By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) says it is in Court in respect of the ongoing Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Isabo Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to defend the declaration of Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship election in the state.
The INEC had on Sunday March 19, declared governor Dapo Abiodun winner of the Governorship election conducted in Ogun State on March 18, 2023.
The major contenders in that epic gubernatorial contest were Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate; Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu and Senator Ibikunle Amosun backed – insurance guru; Barr. Olubiyi Otegbeye of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In declaring Abiodun winner, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan,
Prof. Kayode Oyebode Adebowale,
who was the Returning Officer for Ogun State governorship poll, said Dapo Abiodun “having satisfied the requirements of the law is the winner and hereby declared as Governor – elect.”
The governor polled 276,298 votes
to beat his main challenger, PDP’S Adebutu who recorded 262,383 votes. Olubiyi Otegbeye of the ADC polled 94,754 votes.
The Daily Crucible recalls that 2,688,305 was announced as registered voters and accredited voters stood at 666506 as of March this year while total valid votes was recorded as 645,133, total void votes -18,835 and total votes cast stood at 663,968.
And shortly after the declaration, the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, kicked against the cancellation of results in 54 pollings units in Ogun State during the said governorship poll.
Adebutu who happened to be the main challenger to APC’s Governor Dapo Abiodu, said results in 54 polling units spreads across Remo North, Sagamu, Ifo, Abeokuta South, Egbado South and Ado/Odo/Ota local governments areas of Ogun State were cancelled by the INEC during the election, describing it at the time as “disenfrachising of electorate” in his strongholds.
The former federal lawmaker who spoke then through the State Agent of the PDP in respect of the governorship poll, Mr Oyejide Sunkanmi, called on the Commission to investigate the cancellations and directs a rerun in the affected areas.
The PDP governorship candidate also noted that the call for a rerun was a legitimate demand, citing the electoral Act section 24 subsection 3 which provides that a rerun should be ordered where alleged violence hindered the electorate, electoral officials and materials from being freely deployed for the purpose of election.
According to him, if the total number of cancelled votes is far higher than the margin of lead or winning between the winner and the first runner up, a rerun becomes advisable in the affected places.
And not content with just complaining on the day Abiodun was declared winner, Adebutu and his party also approached the Tribunal with a Petition to challenge the declaration.
Since the three man Panel being chaired by Justice Hamidu Kunaza began sitting months ago, Adebutu and PDP had called 56 witnesses, who separately gave evidence in furtherance of the Petition listing INEC, Dapo Abiodun and APC as respondents/defendants respectively.
The Hamidu Kunaza-led tribunal had also admitted 8,000 documents designated as exhibits which were tendered from the bar by Adebutu through his counsel, Goddy Uche.
Some of the documents admitted include 176-page BVAS reports; one certificate of compliance; an INEC receipt; Form EC8A – declaration of result from INEC; Form EC8D – summary of results from local governments; Form EC8Cs for the 20 LGAs; and Form EC8Bs for Abeokuta North, Abeokuta South, Ado-Odo/Ota, Egbado North, Egbado South, Ewekoro, Ifo, Ijebu North, Ijebu North, Ijebu-Ode, Ikenne, Remo North, Odogbolu, Sagamu and others.
Adebutu is seeking an order of the Tribunal to upturn the outcome of the March 18 governorship election in the state and a declaration that he is also the winner.
But fielding questions from reporters shortly after the proceedings on Monday, INEC through its Counsel, Remi Olatubora, said the Commission acted according to the law in declaring Abiodun as the winner, stressing that the electoral body would not throw its hands up in surrender to Adebutu and PDP.
He said, “We are in court for the trial of the Governorship petition. The petitioners called six witnesses on Monday. This brings the witnesses called so far to 56.
“Independent Electoral Commission and (INEC) is a defendant or Respondent in this petition. So, they have sued INEC and INEC has to defend its action, it has to give reason why Dapo Abiodun was declared as winner of (March 18, 2023 governorship) election.
“So, INEC is not going to come here(the Tribunal and surrender to the Petitioners. INEC is a defendant and it must defend… There is no issues of Independent because if you looked at it, the Petitioner sued the declared Winner, INEC and APC jointly and severally.
“Every lawyer will tell you that when a man is sued jointly and severally with others that man that is sued jointly has to defend. So, that is exactly why we are here. So, we are not going to come here (the Tribunal) and just raise our hands in surrender because we are INEC. We must defend that we acted within the law in the declaration of Dapo Abiodun as Winner of the election.”
Earlier during proceedings on Monday, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) witness told the Panel that he was surprised to discover that his witness statement on Oath and that of some other witnesses were identical despite their voting in different locations.
The witness who identified himself as Balogun Mohammed Oluwaseyi from Oke – Agbo axis of Ijebu Igbo in Ijebu North Local Government Area of the state, said his witness statement and information provided therein relates only to his polling unit but added that he couldn’t explain how its similarities with others came about.
Balogun who claimed to work at the PDP State Secretariat, Abeokuta revealed this during cross – examination by Counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Remi Olatubora.
The PDP witness had while being led in evidence by Goddy Uche, Counsel to the PDP and Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, prayed the Panel to take his “Witness statement on oath as evidence” (in furtherance of the Petitioners’ case against the declaration of Dapo Abiodun as winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship poll in Ogun State.)
But when INEC Counsel asked him to take a cursory examination of his witness statement word for word and paragraph by paragraph and paired it with that of another witness who had earlier given evidence, Balogun was taken aback on discovering the similarities in the two witnesses’ statements instead of differences, and submitted that he had no explanation for it.
Similarly, another PDP witness, Mrs Mulikat Yemi, from Ota, while admitting similarities in her statement with another witness, Balogun Olanrewaju, during cross examination by the counsel to INEC, including same error and omission in paragraph 6 of their statements, told the tribunal to ask her lawyer about the repetition.
One other witness, Thomas Abiodun, a photographer, who appeared before the panel for the party from Iyesi-Ota, in Ado Odo Ota Local Government, claimed to have signed the statement he presented on June 16, whereas, the statement was actually signed on 6th April.
Also, paragraphs 3 and 4 of his statement, after being sighted and compared were confirmed to be the same with other witnesses’ statements.
Abiodun told the Tribunal that his statement was based on his personal knowledge, meanwhile, after being cross examined, he later changed this claim and said the information in his statement came from an unnamed official of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In the same vein, it was discovered after thorough scrutiny by Counsel to INEC that witness statement submitted by another individual called by the PDP, Mr Kushimo Akeem, a cloth seller from Gbagura, in Abeokuta North Local Government, was exactly the same with previous witnesses’ statements earlier presented.
