Tinubu's Son In-Law To Go For A Rerun In Ekiti -Tribunal

The Legislative Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ado Ekiti, capital of Ekiti State today nullified the election of Oladimeji Oyetunde Ojo of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) representing Ekiti West/Efon/Ijero Federal Constituency at House of Representatives, Abuja.

Ojo is the Chairman, Committee on Communication at the lower house until the nullification of his election as well as the son-in-law to the leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The tribunal ruled against the legislator on technical ground due to the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to have included the logo and name of Mr. Bamidele Peter, the candidate of National Transformational Party (NTP) on the ballot papers used in the April 26, 2011 legislative election in Ekiti State.

Peter, in his petition to the tribunal had prayed for the nullification of the election and the ordering of a fresh one on the grounds that he was unlawfully excluded from the election.

Ojo was declared winner of the election but the tribunal held that the election was not validly conducted based on what it referred to as “the unlawful exclusion” of one of the candidates in the election.

In its unanimous judgment read by Justice Patrick Uhuo, the Tribunal , dismissed the grounds of defense put up by the respondents (Ojo and the INEC), contending that their defense was incompetent having been based on technicalities and that “the tribunal is concerned purely with post-election matters and will keep to that.”Justice Uhuo, in the judgment pointed out that “the evidences before the tribunal show that the first petitioner (Bamidele Peter) was validly nominated by the second petitioner (NTP),” adding that “the tribunal has no doubt that the petitioner was unlawfully excluded from the election of April 26, 2011.”Uhuo held that “consequently, the election held on April 26, 2011 and the return of Oyetunde Ojo as the winner is hereby nullified according to the provisions of Section 140 of the Electoral Act.“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is hereby ordered to conduct fresh election including the name and logo of the first and second petitioner within 90 days.”

While counsel to the respondents, Mr. Niyi Idowu assured that the judgment would be appealed against at the Court of Appeal, Petitioner’s counsel, Mr. Obafemi Adewale expressed satisfaction with the judgment stressing that the tribunal had “justified the confidence reposed in it by the petitioner who approached it.”

Other members of the panel are the chairman of the tribunal Justice Ibrahim Bako and a member, Justice Mrs. Bukunola Adebiyi.