Tribunal upholds Abiodun’s election as Ogun governor

The Ogun State governorship election petitions tribunal sitting in Abeokuta on Saturday upheld Governor Dapo Abiodun’s victory in the March 18 election in the state.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election having polled 276,298 votes to defeat his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenger, Ladi Adebutu, who garnered 262,383 votes in the exercise.

Adebutu and his party, thereafter, approached the tribunal to nullify the outcome of the election over alleged fraud.

READ ALSO: Appeal Court dismisses Adebutu’s allegation of vote-buying in Ogun governorship election

The petitioners also argued that the governor did not score the majority of valid votes in the exercise.

In its ruling, the three-member panel led by Justice Hamidu Kunaza dismissed the petition for being incompetent.

The panel held that the petitioner failed to prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Justice Hamidu-Kunaza, who read the judgement, said Abiodun was qualified to stand as the APC candidate and his subsequent announcement as the winner of the election by INEC was in order.

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