22nd August, 2022
The Election Petition Tribunal sitting on the petition by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Adegboyega Oyetola, has granted his application to scan the voters’ registers and ballot papers used for the July 16 election in Osun.
Oyetola had filed the petition to challenge the victory of Senator Ademola Adeleke, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The tribunal at its maiden sitting on Monday presided over by the chairman of the panel, Justice Tertsea Kume, which also had Justice Benedict Ogbuli, also granted Oyetola the permission to serve Adeleke, the notice of the petition through substituted means.
Counsel for Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Yomi Aliyu, had told the tribunal sitting that a bailiff given the task could not serve Adeleke notice of the petition.
Aliyu further explained that the person met at the entrance to the PDP’s candidate’s residence in Ede refused to take the document from the bailiff that went to serve him.
He also told the panel that he would prefer that the notice be pasted on the notice board at the entrance of the tribunal sitting venue.
Ruling on the two motions, Justice Kume granted the reliefs sought by Oyetola and ordered that the notice should be pasted on the notice board at the entrance to the venue of the tribunal sitting.
Justice Kume also granted the motion ex parte filed for an order for inspection of documents in the custody of the first respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission.