Heaven Will Not Fall If You Declare Me Governor – Adebutu Tells Ogun Tribunal
By Our Correspondent
The Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has asked the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, to sack Governor Dapo Abiodun and declare him the winner of the March 18 election.
Salient Times report that Adebutu insisted that heaven would not fall if the Tribunal sacked Abiodun and declared him the winner of the election.
Counsel to Adebutu, Chris Uche (SAN) said this on Monday while adopting the petitioners’ final written address before the Justice Hamidu Kunaza-led Tribunal.
PDP and Adebutu in the petition marked, EPT/OG/GOV/03/2023 accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of non-compliance to the Electoral Act and corrupt practices during the election.
The petitioners also alleged that elections were disrupted by thugs in over 99 polling units, disenfranchising over 40,000 voters from participating in the election.
In adopting the final address, Uche told the Tribunal that the petitioners filed its addresses replying first, second, and third respondents’ addresses, all dated and filed on August 25, 2023.
Uche urged the court to grant all the reliefs sought by the petitioners, including the disqualification of the second respondent (Abiodun) as a candidate in the March 18 election.
Uche also asked the Tribunal to hold that all votes allocated to Abiodun by the Independent INEC are wasted and declare the petitioner (Adebutu) as the rightful winner of the election.
“To find that upon a proper calculation of the lawful votes cast in the election excluding the votes earned by multiple thumbprinting and ticking of ballot papers under the watch of INEC, that the petitioner scored the majority of the lawful votes,” he submitted.
According to him, about 40,891 votes were affected and wrongfully credited to the second respondent.
Uche said the petitioners have “successfully discharged the burden of proof by calling 94 witnesses who gave vital evidence.”
Uche said, “I urge my lords to do justice by granting the reliefs sought in this matter, the heavens will not fall.”
While adopting his final written address, INEC’s Counsel, Dr Remi Olatunbora (SAN), urged the Tribunal to dismiss the petition “for being absolutely unmeritorious and for being a total waste of judiciary precious time”.
He argued that the petitioners simply dumped the documents on the Tribunal, saying “all the bags and envelopes of evidence hauled into this Tribunal and tendered from the bar are absolutely inadmissible”.
On his part, Abiodun’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) in his written address urged the Tribunal to dismiss the petition, arguing that all the evidence tendered by the petitioners was not duly signed and stamped by appropriate authorities.
He described all the evidence tendered by the petitioners as “worthless, valueless, baseless, and should have been voided ab initio”.
“The position of the law is that an unsigned document is worthless. The principle of margin of lead cannot be a ground for a petition. I therefore urge your lordships to dismiss this petition”, Olanipekun argued.
Counsel to APC, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu submitted that the petitioners raised allegations of non-compliance in six local governments but failed to mention any polling unit.
He also argued that the video and picture of alleged political thugs on bikes who disrupted elections were not related to the polling unit.
“We humbly urged my lords to dismiss the petition”, Ikpeazu submitted.
