The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Akure has nullified the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker representing the Ileoluji/Okeigbo constituency, Nelson Akinsuroju.
The tribunal led by Justice Rose Soji, ordered a rerun election in six out of the 27 polling units being challenged by the petitioner and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Babatunde Fadare, out of the 191 polling units.
The tribunal while delivering its judgement declared that the March 18th, 2023 Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Constituency election, was inconclusive while delivering judgement, ordered a rerun in six affected polling units in the Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo local government area of the state.
Counsel to Akinsuroju, Remi Olatubora, while reacting to the verdict, said the judgement was one-sided as it is based on the morality of the case and not the competence of the results.
Olatubora who was represented by Barrister Olumide Ogidan, said “the judgement shall be studied and shall be appealed within the stipulated time frame, as stated in the Electoral Act of 2022”
The sacked lawmaker, Akinsuroju, has however, called for calm and enjoined the people of Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo State Constituency to be hopeful as the judgment shall be appealed through his legal team.
He said the people’s mandate would be protected to ensure that they continue to enjoy the dividends of their democracy which they have been enjoying for over four months.
Akinsuroju was announced the winner by INEC, after polling a total number of 10,207 votes, to beat the PDP candidate who polled 9,287 votes.
Fadare however, petitioned the tribunal, challenging the outcome of the election on the grounds that the election results was not valid over failure to comply with electoral laws, saying Akinsuroju was not duly elected for not getting the highest lawfully votes cast.
He also urged the court to declare the election inconclusive and order INEC to conduct supplementary elections in the 6 affected units where elections were disrupted.
. TheWitness
