The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has expressed displeasure over the decision of the Ogun State election petition tribunal to dismiss his petition against Dapo Abiodun based on technicalities.
Recall that the tribunal on Saturday struck out Adebutu’s petition against Abiodun and the All Progressives Congress (APC) for reportedly being incompetent and lacking in merit.
In a statement by Afolabi Orekoya, who is the Director of Media, Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organisation, the PDP candidate said the judgment of the Tribunal that struck out his petition challenging the March 18 governorship election in Ogun “is disheartening and a big threat to democracy.”
Adebutu said, “this judgment which was based solely on funny technicalities failed to consider the substantial merits and evidence tendered during the trial.”
He said his commitment to this course remains unwavering, and he would exhaust all available legal avenues to ensure “justice prevails and the mandate is retrieved.”
“Regrettably, the Tribunal chose to focus on mere technicalities and the use of English rather than engage in a thorough examination of the glaring evidence presented.”
According to him, the petitioners tendered “substantial evidence that raised serious questions about the conduct of the election, even marked ballot papers.”
He expressed confidence that a closer examination of the evidence tendered during the trial would have revealed the true nature of the “irregularities and discrepancies that occurred” during the election.
“In the course of the trial, our legal team presented enough evidence that establishing non-compliance, voters’ harassment and intimidation leading to the disenfranchisement of over 49,000 voters which is higher than the margin of lead of 13,915 as “purportedly” declared by INEC; the ballot boxes snatching, over voting among many other electoral malpractices,” he said.
”He spoke further that duly Certified True Copies of documents from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were duly obtained and paid for with official receipts “to back our claims which proved all the content of our petition and justified our concerns over the election.”
Adebutu gave his view on the tribunal’s verdict when he said, “We condemn unequivocally the judgement of the tribunal, consequently, we have mandated our legal team to appeal the judgement of the tribunal. We will not relent until due justice is served.”
Adebutu assured the Ogun people that he would not be deterred by this setback, especially in fighting for the rights and aspirations of the people.
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