Justice Henry Olusiyi of the Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, Ogun State yesterday struck out a petition filed by Mega Progressive People’s Party (MPPP), against the governorship election of April 11, 2015 which returned Governor Ibikunle Amosun elected.
Law court
Ruling on three motions to notice filed before it challenging the competence of the petition, the chairman of the tribunal, held that the petition was incurably incompetent.
The three motion were filed before it by the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC (1st respondent), All Progressives Congress, APC (2nd respondent), Governor Ibikunle Amosun (3rd respondent) and Chief (Mrs) Yetunde Onanuga, deputy governor ( 4th respondent).
Counsel to the petitioner, Kayode Akinsola has approached the tribunal with the petition tagged EPT/GOV/ABK/002/2015 seeking the cancellation of the whole governorship election for alleged unlawful exclusion of his client from the election.
But all the respondents filed their application pursuant to Section 285 (5) of 1999 constitution (as amended), seeking the petition to be struck out in its entirety for statute barred as it was argued to have been filed outside the mandatory 21 days requirement.
Arguing his case, counsel to 3rd and 4th respondents, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), submitted that the result of election of April 11, 2015 was declared on April 12, 2015, and that the petitioner had until May 3, 2015, to raise any petition.
Akinsola in his argument, posited that the result of the election was declared on the April 13, 2015, adding that, “even, if the result was declared on the 12th of April, the petition was still within time,excluding public holidays and Sundays”.
Issue for determination, according to the tribunal was ‘whether the petition on 4/5/2015 was filed out of time and therefore incompetent.’
Delivering his ruling, Justice Olusiyi said the petitioner failed to present documentary evidence to back up his claims which, according to him, would have been INEC form EC8E, while the respondent/applicants was backed up with documentary evidences.
According to him, “Each of the 1st respondent/applicant, 2nd respondent/applicants and the 3rd and 4th respondent/applicants has shown that the result of the election was declared on 12/4/2015. It has also been established beyond peradventure that the election petition was filed on 4/5/2015.
“This petition, having been filed outside the 21 days period prescribed by law, is incompetent and cannot be entertained beyond this stage by this tribunal, as doing so will tantamount to embarking on a wild goose chase and a worthless pursuit.
“The lone issue for determination, as formulated by the tribunal, is resolved in the affirmative, in favour of all the respondents/applicants. Each of the application succeeds on the ground of limitation of time and is accordingly granted.
“The petition coded EPT/GOV/ABK/002/2015 filed on 4/5/2015 is hereby struck out for being incurably incompetent”, Olusiyi said.
Counsel to the 3rd and 4th respondents, Dr. Olumide Ayeni requested for 1 million naira cost, while counsel to APC, George Oyeniyi requested for N250,000 cost.
Oyeniyi argued that the suit initially was an abuse of court process, Ayeni said the cost would serve as deterrent against ‘instituting hopeless case against public servants’.
But the appeal fell to the deaf hears of the Chairman of the tribunal who said approving the cost would amount to killing a fly with sledge hammer.
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