UPDATED: Supreme Court affirms Makinde’s election as Oyo governor

The Supreme Court has upheld the victory of Seyi Makinde of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Oyo State Governor in the
March 9 governorship election.

Makinde had polled 515, 621 votes defeating, his closest rival,
Mr Adebayo Adelabu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who
polled 357,982 votes.

The apex court, in a unanimous decision on Wednesday, set aside
the decision of the Appeal Court which ordered for a supplementary
election in some of the contested wards.

The appeal court had ruled against the decision of the
Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Oyo, State which dismissed
the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its
candidate, Adelabu.

The apex court held that the lower court erred by setting aside
the decision of the tribunal which upheld Makinde’s victory.

The apex court said the appeal court’s majority judgment setting
aside the ruling of the tribunal deserved to be set aside.

The apex court also held that the respondents (APC and Adelabu),
were unable to prove the allegations of violence and malpractices
which they claimed marred the exercise in parts of the state.

Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Counsel for Makinde had earlier
urged the court to disregard and dismiss the appeal against his
client’s victory at the poll.

Olanipekun said the tribunal had handled the matter in line with
existing case laws, adding that the majority decisions were in
tandem with Supreme Court’s position on similar matters.

Olanipekun also argued that his client had defeated his
opponents in the polls with over 15700 polls and won in 28 out of
33 local governments in the state.

The APC’s governorship candidate had approached the election
petition tribunal seeking a nullification of the exercise.

The tribunal dismissed the petition on the grounds that the
petitioners failed to prove the allegations of malpractices in the
election.

Dissatisfied with the outcome of the matter, the petitioners
proceeded to the court of appeal where the governor was neither
removed nor retained in the office.

Makinde, thereafter, approached the apex court urging it to set
aside the decision of the lower court. (NAN)

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