The Special Adviser to the Ondo State Governor on Rural and Community Development, Hon. Kolawole Babatunde congratulates Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu on his victory at the Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
He describes today's ruling of the Tribunal which reaffirmed the victory of Arakunrin Akeredolu in the October 10, 2020 Governorship Election as the triumph of good over evil.
The Justice Abubakar Umar-led three-man panel of the Ondo State Governorship Election Tribunal, in a unanimous judgment delivered via zoom, dismissedthe suit filed by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the October 10, 2020 Governorship Election, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede in its entirety and upheld the victory of Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu in the said election.
The tribunal in its ruling held that the petitioners failed to prove their allegations that the election was characterized by widespread violence and over-voting as required by law.
It also dismissed the claim of Eyitayo Jegede and the PDP that Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu was not validly nominated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a candidate in the election for lack of jurisdiction.
The jurists said in their ruling that "Issue raised therein in this petition are settled issue of internal affairs and Management of a political party which this Tribunal has no Jurisdiction".
Recalled that Mr. Eyitayo Jegede of the PDP hurriedly closed his case at the Election Petition Tribunal in January 2021 failing to call any of the 485 witnesses listed in his petition after testifying before the three-man panel as the principal witness.
The tribunal had earlier in December 2020 dismissed two out of the three petitions filed before it to challenge the victory of Governor Akeredolu at the polls following the failure of the petitioners to file pre-trial forms which the panel described as fundamental. They are those of the All People’s Party (APP) and Action Alliance (AA).
Hon. Kolawole Babatunde said today's ruling has vindicated his view that the petitions filed by Eyitayo Jegede and his party lacked substance.
He added that the people of Ondo State should expect more dividends of democracy in the second term of the Arakunrin Odunayo Akeredolu-led administration in spite of the dwindling resources of the state.
The Special Adviser on Rural and Community Development said the rural communities of the state will witness unprecedented transformational development under the present administration.
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