Politics
EDO: Appeal Court affirms Obaseki as elected gov
The Court of Appeal has upheld the ruling of the Edo State Governorship Election Perition Tribunal, which upheld Governor Godwin Obaseki as the duly elected governor of the state.
The Appellate Court sitting in Benin, the state capital, threw out the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, challenging the Tribunal’s ruling.
INEC had declared Obaseki, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the September 28, 2016, governorship poll.
But Ize-Iyamu and his party the PDP approached the Tribunal to upturn the INEC declaration. Failure to achieve this, they went further to the Appeal Court to upturn the election results.
But the five-man panel, led by Justice M. B. Dongban Mensem, returned the same verdict, that Obaseki was duly elected, and dismissed the appeal for lack of merit.
The appellate court, in a unanimous judgement read by Justice M. O. Bolaji-Yusuf, said the tribunal did a “thorough” consideration of the issues raised by the appellants.
It added, “We have considered all the issues and, at the end, we found that the conclusion of the tribunal, as has been shown, is unassailable.
“The tribunal carried out a painstaking, detailed and thorough consideration of all aspects of the appellants’ case; it deserves commendation.
“Having resolved the issues identified against the appellants, we find this unmeritorous. It is, hereby, dismissed. Each party shall bear his or her own cost.”
Reacting to the judgment, Obaseki said it is God’s affirmation of his victory at the poll.
But Ize-Iyamu said his lawyers and the party elders would study the judgment before deciding on their next course of action.
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JOHNSON PETER
June 9, 2017 at 6:27 pm
I love Iyamu, at least, he fought to the last breath and now he will accept defeat honourably than being cheated upon
yanju omotodun
June 9, 2017 at 7:49 pm
But he wasted resources as well. He ought to have accepted defeat before now. He is a fake man of god
Animashaun Ayodeji
June 9, 2017 at 8:39 pm
Ize-Iyamu should stop being stubborn, accept defeat and try again in 2020.
Abeni Adebisi
June 9, 2017 at 8:44 pm
Whoever advised ize-Iyamu advised him wrongly, they misled him into wasting his resources in a case he’d never win
Anita Kingsley
June 9, 2017 at 8:47 pm
APC didn’t win, they rigged the election and influenced both court’s verdicts. Their tenure will soon be over, they cannot remain in power forever!
seyi jelili
June 9, 2017 at 9:45 pm
Pdp did worst than this, it’s apc time to shine .