The Ogun State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which convened in Abeokuta, has upheld the election of Olakunle Oluomo as the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, dismissing a petition seeking to annul his election.
The tribunal, consisting of three members, unanimously affirmed Oluomo as the duly elected representative of Ifo State Constituency I. The petition filed by Yusuf Ogundele, son of the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Sikirulahi Ogundele, was dismissed.
The PDP candidate had requested the tribunal to declare him the winner of the March 18 election on the grounds that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Oluomo the victor despite not being elected by a majority of votes.
Ogundele argued that the election of Oluomo, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
However, Justice Samuel Ayiwulu, the chairman of the tribunal, delivered the lead judgment, stating that the petitioners failed to present eyewitnesses in court to substantiate their allegations of non-accreditation, over-voting, vote inflation, and other irregularities mentioned in the petition.
The tribunal ruled that the two witnesses presented by the PDP candidate were insufficient and lacked credibility in establishing their claims.
Consequently, the tribunal dismissed the petition for lacking merit.
