A determined panel of the Court docket of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Wednesday [today]affirmed the resolution of the Ogun Command Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which had earlier struck out all allegations of vote-attempting for and voter inducement that PDP and its guber candidate in Ogun Command – Ladi Adebutu – made against Governor Dapo Abiodun and APC.
The Court docket, in its lead judgment be taught by Justice MB Idris, moreover upheld one other resolution of the tribunal which confirmed the validity of the defence filed by Governor Dapo Abiodun.
Recall that on 22 Would possibly maybe 2023, Adebutu and PDP filed a reply to the defence filed by Governor Abiodun. In the acknowledged reply, Adebutu and PDP alleged, for the first time, that Governor Abiodun and APC purchased votes within the 18 March 2023 Ogun Command guber elections.
When Governor Abiodun purchased Adebutu’s reply, the Governor’s lawyers filed an application asking the Tribunal to strike out the reply in its entirety or within the different, to strike out offending paragraphs from that reply. The Governor’s lawyers argued that the reply filed by Adebutu and PDP contravened Para 16(1)(a & b) of the Schedule to the Electoral Act and the rules of court pleadings. The Tribunal agreed with the Governor’s lawyers and struck out the total reply filed by Adebutu and PDP.
It used to be established before the panel that the allegation made by Adebutu and PDP used to be an after belief which used to be with out warning set up together after Governor Abiodun made weighty allegations backed up with police investigation document setting up that Adebutu and PDP purchased votes all around the elections in his defence.
It used to be because this debacle that the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP, Oladipupo Adebutu hurriedly sneaked in one other country and composed stays at enormous till now, whereas assorted leaders of the birthday party in Ogun Command are at the moment standing trial in court.
This present day, the Court docket of Appeal confirmed that each one allegations of vote-attempting for in Adebutu’s Answer find been incompetent and as such, the Court docket of Appeal struck out paragraphs 21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 of the Answer leaving some few hole paragraphs.
In the equal vein on Wednesday, the Court docket of Appeal threw out the total allure filed by Adebutu and PDP against the resolution of the Ogun Command Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal which upheld the validity of Governor Abiodun’s defence.
Earlier in his defence, Governor Abiodun had made a solid allegations of electoral fraud against the PDP and its candidate, Ladi Adebutu, which used to be perpetrated all around the March 18 governorship election within the teach. Rather then counter these weighty allegations, Adebutu’s lawyers belatedly launched their find counter-allegations of vote attempting for (all of which find now been struck out) whereas moreover asking the Tribunal to strike out the Governor’s allegations of vote-attempting for.
Adebutu and PDP had argued that their petition did not consist of allegations of vote attempting for and so the governor’s defence might maybe maybe well presumably find to composed no longer moreover find included such allegations. Nonetheless, in its ruling, the Tribunal unanimously held that Governor Abiodun used to be no longer restricted to the equal components that Adebutu and PDP raised of their petition and that the Governor used to be free to utter and demonstrate acts of vote-attempting for against PDP and its candidate. The Court docket of Appeal this day unanimously upheld that resolution. The Court docket of Appeal described the allure filed by Adebutu as unmeritorious and struck out the allure in its entirety.
With these decisions, it’s a long way now sure that the afterthought allegations of vote-attempting for made by PDP find been thrown out and all evidence that they purportedly snuck into the Tribunal shall be ineffective having been confirmed by the Court docket of Entice be in line with incompetent claims. On the assorted hand, the allegations of vote-attempting for made by Governor Abiodun against PDP and Ladi Adebutu remain competent before the Tribunal whose resolution shall be rendered in due course.