Tribunal Adjourns Hearing In Election Dispute

An Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, has fixed Monday, 17 October, 2011 for the hearing of the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Mr. Segun Adewale, against the election of Action Congress of Nigeria, AC N, candidate, Adeola Olamilekan Solomon, who was declared winner of the Alimosho Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives election conducted on April 9, 2011.

In an averment filed before the tribunal by a Lagos lawyer, Barrister Adewale Adesokan, the petitioner, Mr. Segun Adewale, alleged that Adeola Olamilekan Solomon was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast in the said election and that he was the one who scored the majority of lawful votes and ought to have been returned by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as duly elected.

Alternatively, he claimed that at the time of the election, Adeola Olamilekan was not qualified to contest the election.

Mr. Adewale also contended that the election was characterised by corrupt practices and noncompliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 which substantially vitiated the outcome of the elections.

In his facts supporting the grounds of the petition, the petitioner alleged that INEC recruited and trained ad-hoc-staff who turned out to be members of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and their supporters.

There were acts of violence, intimidations, threats, blackmails, monetary inducement of voters and other malpractices but INEC officials accepted and declared results at collation centres where ballot papers were wrongfully stuffed into ballot boxes by thugs.

Other grounds stated by the petitioner are over-voting, electoral material not available in many polling units, bias by INEC officials in favour of respondent and his party, neglect and negligence of INEC and statistical data not available or irreconcilable.

In view of these grounds, the petitioner urged the tribunal to nullify and deduct all votes found to be unlawful from the total number of valid votes for the respondent and his party and declare him as being duly elected at the election for the seat of Alimosho Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives election.

However, Mr. Adeola Olamilekan Solomon and ACN in their response, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition as same is completely lacking in merit, frivolous and vexatious. They also contended that Mr. Segun Adewale and his party, PDP, lack the legal right to present the petition.

The respondents, while denying almost all the averment of the petitioner, contended that Mr. Adeola Olamilekan Solomon was duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election, whereas Segun Adewale lost as the election was free and fair and was conducted substantially within the provision of the Electoral Act, 2010.

Contrary to the averment of the petitioner that the ad-hoc staff of INEC were ACN members, the respondents said INEC used members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, in the conduct of the election while the allegation of over-voting levelled against the respondent is a figment of the petitioner’s imagination as it was not supported by the relevant figures as contained in the Form EC 8.