IPAC hails Ogun tribunal verdict, congratulates Gov Abiodun

Ogun State’s Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has praised the Governorship victory Petition Tribunal’s decision to uphold Dapo Abiodun’s victory notwithstanding a petition filed by Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

While Adebutu and his legal team have claimed that the tribunal’s verdict was based on technicalities, IPAC chairman in Ogun State Samson Okusanya said at a press conference on Tuesday that the rulings were based on fairness and objectivity on the point of law.

Okusanya said, “We find their arguments vapid and blind, as they claimed to be mystified by the Tribunal’s reliance on technicalities involving procedural concerns and semantics of the interpretation of words over the content and essential reality of the case.

“Ladi Adebutu and his team of Lawyers ought to have known that law and facts are not based on technicalities but rather on fairness and objectivity of the legal process,” the court wrote, “which stipulates that the petitioner ought to have front-loaded certain information in the petition.”

The head of the IPAC said the tribunal’s ruling made it evident that Adebutu’s petition had several procedural problems, adding that “he who alleges must prove.”

“The subsequent dismissal of the substantive suits is therefore right in the eyes of the Law,” the IPAC chief argued.

In the statement, Okusanya praised the tribunal judges “for treating the petitions on their merits and with analytical minds,” termed the ruling a watershed and point of reference, and urged other political parties to unite behind Abiodun.

Adebutu was warned by IPAC not to pursue further legal action at the appeal court level.

It’s time for the People’s Democratic Party and her candidate, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, to wake up and realize that Ogun State is not for sale. We want him to end his fugitive stay overseas and come home to Nigeria’s Ogun State where he can help us create something beautiful.

In light of his victory on Saturday, “We, therefore, congratulate Prince Dapo Abiodun, CON, and urge him to continue to demonstrate good leadership in Ogun State and remain focused on transforming the State,” the group said in a statement.