The Ogun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has announced Governor Dapo Abiodun, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the appriopriately elected winner of the March 18 poll.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the state’s gubernatorial candidate, Ladi Adebutu, contested Abiodun’s re-election, citing corruption allegations and failure to comply with provisions of electoral law.
The petition also claimed that the governor did not have a majority to be declared the winner by INEC.
The court announced its decision on Saturday in a hearing that lasted about 11 hours,finding that the plaintiffs had failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. The petition was then dismissed.
The court also ruled that Abiodun was entitled to run for his party and that he was subsequently declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Security forces were deployed at strategic points in and around the court to prevent an interruption of the court room.
Lawyers for the plaintiff and defendant attended the packed courtroom.
Representatives and members of parliament from the two rival political parties were also present, including the state’s deputy governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, and the PDP’s deputy governorship candidate, Adekunle Akinlade.
At around 9:10 a.m., the three-member committee took turns reading the verdict.
At the end of its opinion, the court dismissed the allegations of corruption and violation of law as disorganized, incomplete, and incompetent. Allegations of vote buying against the APC and its candidates were also dismissed.
