Ogun Tribunal Judgement: PDP condemns verdict, says the will of the people must prevail
– Heads for appeal court
By Aremu Sosanya
The 2023 Governorship candidate of People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State, Hon Ladi Adebutu has said that the last Saturday’s judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal was based on ‘hilarious technicalities without considering the substance of the case.
A statement by the Director of Media, Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organisation, Afolabi Orekoya, Monday, said the party has mandated its legal team to appeal the judgement, saying it will not relent until justice is served.
According to the statement, the party will not relent until all legal avenues are exhausted in its quest at ensuring that the will of the people is upheld and justice prevails.
It said substantial evidences which raised serious questions about the conduct of the election, including marked ballot papers, were submitted before the tribunal, but were ignored.
According to the statement, the legal team of the PDP presented enough evidences which established non compliance with the electoral act, amongst other alleged infractions, before the tribunal.
“This judgment which was based solely on hilarious technicalities failed to consider the substantial merits and evidence tendered during the trial.
“We submitted substantial evidence that raised serious questions about the conduct of the election, even marked ballot papers and we are confident that a closer examination of this evidence would have revealed the true nature of the irregularities and discrepancies that occurred during the election.
“In the course of the trial, -, ‘ 49,000 which is higher than the margin of lead of 13,915 as “purportedly” declared by INEC; the ballot boxes snatching, over voting among many other electoral malpractices perpetuated by Mr Dapo Abiodun and its party, the APC.
“We obtained duly Certified True Copies of documents from the electoral umpire, INEC, and paid for with official receipts to back our claims which proved all the content of our petition and justified our concerns over the election.
“Regrettably, the .
“We condemn unequivocally the judgement of the tribunal, consequently, . We will not relent until due Justice is served.”
The party, while maintaining that it will not retard in seeking desired justice for the people of Ogun State, said that the court may no longer be the hope of common man with what was displayed during the judgement.
“With what was displayed at the tribunal on Saturday, who may seek redress through the court shortly if not curtailed.
“Again, we will not retard in seeking desired justice for the people of Ogun State whose mandate was hijacked by the enemies of democracy and due process.
“As much as you are aware, this set of individuals did everything possible to ensure the PDP and Adebutu were not on the ballot before the election but we came out victorious.”
