Nigeria: Ekiti Poll - Gov Oyebanji Raises Issues of Violation of Electoral Act Against Sdp, Aa Petitions At Tribunal

What the report says

Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji is responding to petitions filed at the Election Petition Tribunal over the state’s 20 June governorship election, according to Premium Times, as republished by AllAfrica. The tribunal is set to resume on Monday in Ado Ekiti, where the three-member panel is hearing challenges from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Action Alliance (AA).

Premium Times reported that Oyebanji’s legal team, led by Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, has filed six issues for the tribunal to determine in the SDP case and a similar set for the AA petition. The arguments focus on whether the petitions are legally valid, whether the APC should have been joined as a party, and whether the petitioners have shown that Oyebanji’s election should be voided for non-compliance with electoral law, corrupt practices, or a failure to win the majority of lawful votes.

The reporting also notes that the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Oyebanji of the ruling All Progressives Congress the winner with 319,224 votes. The PDP candidate, Oluwole Oluyede, has withdrawn his own petition, leaving the SDP and AA cases active before the tribunal chaired by Abubakar Kutigi. The SDP candidate, Adebayo Alade, and AA candidate, Olu Omotoso, both received small vote totals in the contest, underscoring the legal rather than electoral challenge now before the panel.

The tribunal’s next steps are significant because its ruling could either uphold or upset the outcome of the Ekiti governorship race, a process that commonly follows disputed elections in Nigeria.