Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun was duly elected on April 26, the Election Petition Tribunal said in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, yesterday.
Affirming the election of the Action Congress of Nigeria (AC N) standard bearer, the tribunal also dismissed the petition filed against Amosun's election by Gen. Adetunji Idowu Olurin of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The tribunal, which said the petition was dismissed for lack of merit, orderd the petitioner to pay N10,000 each to Amosun and other respondents.
The PDP had sued Amosun, the ACN and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), urging the panel to declare Olurin as the candidate with the highest number of valid votes and return him winner.
It also prayed the tribunal to order INEC to issue Olurin, a Certificate of Return as the lawful winner, and in the event that the above prayers were not granted, the tribunal should in the alternative declare as a "nullity" the election that produced Amosun as governor.
In its third relief, the petitioner asked the tribunal to order INEC to conduct a fresh governorship election in Ogun State, saying should a fresh poll be organised, the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) and its candidate, Gboyega Isiaka, should be barred from participating as a party and candidate.
The petitioner had premised his reason for challenging the outcome of the April 26 poll on the grounds that Amosun was not qualified to stand for an election coupled with claims that INEC did not comply substantially with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended.
According to the petitioner, Amosun did not have the West African Examination Council (WAEC) Ordinary Level results as at last April and that the one he claimed to have obtained in 1978 and submitted in the INEC application form was allegedly forged.
The PDP also complained of multiple voting, disenfranchisement of voters, wrongful substitution of candidates and vote splitting.
After going through the submissions of the perties, the tribunal dismissed the petition. It said it did not only lack "merit" but that the petitioner also failed to discharge the burden of proof of the allegations levelled against the respondents.
It said the petitioner's allegation of wrongful substitution of the PPN candidate, Gboyega Isiaka, by INEC "is not within the jurisdiction of this tribunal" to adjudicate.
Reading the unanimous judgment on behalf of his colleagues, Justice Bashir Sukola held that the petitioner only tendered some documents before.
It called one witness – Mr Semiu Sodipo – whose oral evidence or testimony was based on what was told him by others.
Sodipo, the tribunal said, failed to show documentary evidence to substantiate the claims that Amosun was not qualified to stand for an election as at the time he did or did not possess the academic results submitted to INEC.
The court said: "Alhaji Semiu Sodipo, in his evidence, said he was informed by many people who were disenfranchised. This will amount to inadmissible hearsay evidence."
The court also held that the PDP was unable to substantiate claims of over-voting, disenfranchisement of voters before or during the election in favour of Amosun.
Justice Sukola said: "The tribunal should not be made to speculate what had happened to fill the gap of what the petitioner failed to substantiate or provide.
"We have done our calculation. Even if the votes of the fourth respondent (Gboyega Isiaka) and the petitioner were put together, the second respondent (Amosun) will be leading by 51,738 votes. There is no merit in the petition and this court, therefore, dismisses it. That is our judgment."
CULLED FROM THE NATION.