Godwin Tsa, Abuja

Ekiti State governorship election tribunal, led by its Chairman, Suleiman Belgore, has upheld Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of the state.

In a unanimous judgment, the tribunal, which sat in Abuja, yesterday, struck out the petition filed by Kolapo Olusola of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

It was the position of the tribunal that the various allegations raised against the election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on July 14, 2018 were not proved as required by law.

The tribunal held that rather than establishing the allegations of corruption, malpractices, ballot box snatching, non-accreditation, over voting and deliberate voiding of votes, the petitioners dumped worthless documents on the tribunal without demonstrating them.

Belgore said contrary to the claims of the petitioners, Fayemi was duly and lawfully returned as winner of majority votes by INEC.

The tribunal held that it was established, beyond reasonable doubt, that the APC candidate in the election scored 197,459 votes as against the 178,121 votes scored by Olusola to emerge winner of the poll.

Justice Belgore, while reviewing the petition, held that 71 witnesses were called by the petitioners to testify as against 926 witnesses listed to be invited to testify for them, adding that the 71 witnesses were scanty and insufficient to establish the fact of the various issues raised in the petition.

Specifically, the tribunal took judicial notice that out of 2,158 polling units in the state, the conduct of the election was challenged in 1,458 units, while only 41 polling agents were called to testify as to what transpired in the areas in dispute.

The judge held that calling 41 polling agents as witnesses out of 1,458 polling units was fatal to the case of the petitioners because the 41 agents invited as witnesses were too scanty and grossly few to make any impact in the petition.

Besides, the tribunal also held that written depositions by the petitioners’ witnesses were haphazardly done and, in the process, no probative value could be attached to the depositions by the tribunal.

Belgore dismissed the petitioners’ claims that Fayemi, at the time of the election, was not qualified to stand for governorship election on the ground of his alleged indictment by the Justice Oyewole commission of inquiry.

Justice Belgore said the tribunal perused the report which prohibited Fayemi from holding public office for 10 years and found that the recommendation for the ban was due to non-appearance of Fayemi before the commission and not on embezzlement of public funds as required by the law.

Contrary to the law, the tribunal also held that there was no evidence that the agents of the petitioners were forced to sign the result sheets which they did on the election day. 

Justice Belgore, therefore, agreed that the governor was lawfully returned as the governor of Ekiti State and that the petition against him failed because it lacked merit and was, therefore, dismissed in its entirety.

In his reaction, Fayemi declared that Monday’s judgement of the election tribunal affirming his election as the  validly elected governor of the state is a re-affirmation of the wishes of the vast majority of Ekiti people.

Governor Fayemi, who hailed the judgment as another proof that the wishes of the people will always prevail, said he is forever grateful to the people for electing him as governor for a second term and by standing by his administration.

“It is a victory for all Ekiti people. This is democracy at work. This is a reflection of the wishes of our people and I dedicate the victory to our people,” Fayemi said in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary. Yinka Oyebode.

The governor also urged his main challenger,  Olusola, to join hands with him and the rest of Ekiti in taking the state to the next level of development and prosperity.

“It is a great day for democracy. And the judiciary has proven again that it is the last hope of the common man.

“We shall now continue with the task of rebuilding our state and restoring the core values of our people without any iota of distraction,” he said.

Fayemi urged his supporters to be magnanimous in victory and celebrate in moderation, saying he remains the governor of all Ekiti regardless of party affiliation.

“It is a victory for all of us and together we shall restore the state’s lost glory.

“Our desire is to bring back peace, progress and prosperity to Ekiti State. The journey has just begun. 

“I call on the PDP candidate, Olusola, who is an illustrious son of the state, to join us in the efforts to take the state to the next level of development and prosperity,” he said in the statement.

On his part, APC’s Deputy Chairman, Sola Elesin, said: “We are happy over the outcome of the election, but, we are not in any way surprised, because transparent election was held in the July 14 governorship election.

“It was clear that governor Fayemi won fair and square, so, we are not afraid even if they want to appeal the judgment; we are ready for them, because we have no skeleton in our cupboard. There were no cases of electoral malpractices.”

However, the PDP candidate in the governorship election and petitioner in the case, Olusola, said the party will appeal the judgment.

In a statement by his media aide, Onaopemipo Akinloye, Olusola said: “The judgment upholding the fraud called ‘victory’ of Fayemi cannot stand because it does not represent the truth.” 

Vowing  to challenge the judgment at the Appeal Court, Olusola said he was surprised despite the avalanche of evidence of massive electoral fraud committed by the the APC and the INEC, which he placed before the tribunal, it still upheld Fayemi’s election.

Meanwhile, former governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose, said he was not surprised by the tribunal’s judgment. He said “it was already in the public domain and celebrated by the APC more than a week before today.”

Fayose said he would have been surprised at the outcome of the judgment if it had been otherwise because the judiciary was already coerced by the APC-led Federal Government.

His media aide, Lere Olayinka, in a statement said the judgment will be appealed to ensure justice prevail ultimately.