Get Guardian on Google•You can go to court, Lalong tells Useni
Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has filed a 39-ground notice at the Court of Appeal, Abuja to upturn the March 22, 2019 ruling of the Osun governorship petitions tribunal nullifying his victory at September 22 and 27, 2018 polls in the state.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate was returned with 255,505 votes against the 255,023 ballots polled by his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Senator Ademola Adeleke. But in a split decision of two to one, the tribunal voided Oyetola’s triumph and declared the PDP standard-bearer as winner of the exercise before asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue him a certificate of return.
Justices Peter Obiora and Anyinla Gbolagunte ruled against the governor, nullifying the September 27 supplementary election while the panel chair, Justice Ibrahim Sirajo dissented, dismissing Adeleke’s petition for lack of merit.
In the notice of appeal filed by his team of lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Oyetola faulted the judgment on the grounds that it was “perverse, replete with contradictions and not supported by evidence led by the petitioners.”He prayed the court to uphold his appeal, set aside the ruling and dismiss the October 16, 2018 petition by the PDP and Adeleke.
In a similar vein, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has said he was unperturbed by the decision of his opponent, Senator Jeremiah Useni of the PDP, to challenge the outcome of the 2019 gubernatorial polls in court.
The governor stated that he had long prepared for such long before the elections, adding that his priority was to continue with ongoing projects. He thanked the people for the confidence reposed in him.The APC scored 583,255 votes to better PDP’s 538,326 tally.
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