The Supreme Court of Nigeria has put to rest the legal battle on the Ogun State governorship election with the dismissal of the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu.
The appeal jointly brought before the apex court by the PDP and Oladipupo was thrown out on the ground of being unmeritorious.
Justice Tijani Abubakar dismissed the petition in the lead judgment he delivered.
Justice Abubakar rejected the prayer by Adebutu and the PDP for an order to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct fresh elections in the 99 polling units where elections were allegedly cancelled.
The court disagreed with the allegations of election cancellation in the 99 polling units.
On the contrary, the Supreme Court held that the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its governorship candidate, Dapo Abiodun, were lawfully declared winners of the March 18 poll by the electoral body.
Justice Abubakar agreed that the documents brought by the appellants that elections were cancelled in 99 polling units were worthless papers and lacking in evidential value for having no heading, no date and no signature and name of any official.
The court affirmed the findings and conclusions of the Ogun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal which had earlier dismissed the petition for want of merit.
Read Also: S’Court: Apologize For Attacks On Judiciary – APC Tells PDP
Africa Today News, New York reports that the apex Court has also affirmed the election of the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori.
The court dismissed the appeals by the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Ovie Omo-Agege, and the Labour Party and its candidate, Ken Pella, against the governor
In the Omo-Agege appeal, the five-member panel led by Justice John Okoro said the appeal lacked merit and the appellant was unable to discharge the burden of proof placed on him.
Pella’s appeal was also dismissed for lack of merit.
The court of appeal in Lagos had affirmed the election of Oborevwori as the governor of Delta State, dismissing the appeals by the governorship candidates and their parties
Oborevwori polled 360,234 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Omo-Agege of the APC who scored 240,229.
Pela of the LP came third with 48,027 votes, while Great Ogboru of the All Progressives Grand Alliance came fourth with 11,021 votes.