Governorship Election Tribunal: Osun APC Lambasts PDP Over Misinformation on Admitted Evidence
The Office of the Osun State chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has cautioned the chairman of the state PDP caretaker transition committee, Dr Adekunle Akindele, to desist from feeding the members of the public with bullshits about the proceedings of the ongoing governorship election petition tribunal in Osogbo.
It would be recalled that Akindele in a press statement yesterday stated that there was nothing spectacular about the successful admission of all the APC and Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s plethora of the Certified True Copies (CTC) of evidence by the governorship election tribunal.
According to a statement issued by the Media Adviser to the Osun APC chairman, Kola Olabisi, in Osogbo, the state capital yesterday, the APC chairman said: “May we inquire from the deceptive state PDP chairman that if the evidence had been rejected, wouldn’t it have been a cause for celebration to the PDP?
“It is worthwhile to inform the controversial appointed Osun PDP chairman that admission of documents is always a good news as any document admitted will be considered by the court while anyone not admitted will not be considered.
“So, if one’s document is admitted, it means it is relevant and would be considered by the court. See Akaniwon V. Nsirim SC 88/2001.
“The concept of admissibility of evidence also states that to be considered relevant, it must have some reasonable tendency to help prove or disprove some facts.
“A given piece of evidence is considered material if it is offered to prove a fact that is in dispute in a case.
“As for the PDP’s handler’s singsong that Governor Oyetola is not a candidate, though there is a judgement to that effect, the current position of the law is that Oyetola is a governorship candidate because there is a stay of execution on that judgement.
“The law is that once there is a stay of execution filed, parties hold on until the Status Quo changes. See Akilu V. Fawehinmi (1989) 2 NWLR pt 102 PG 122.
“It was observed that Akindele failed to furnish us with what the PDP’s candidate is doing about his alleged forged certificates. He also failed to provide evidence to show how the media has been misrepresenting the tribunal proceedings”, the statement pointed out.
According to the Osun APC, “the admissibility of the suspected forged certificates is a pointer to the fact that they are relevant.
“Section 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) expressly states that anyone who presents forged papers cannot be governor.
“By boasting that the admission of Governor Oyetola’s evidence by the governorship election petition tribunal is nothing to write home about is akin to the PDP’s handlers behaving to type: giving false hope to their members and the public,” the Osun APC stated.
