Osun House of Rep. Election Tribunal: Parties close case, adopt final addresses

By Jeleel Olawale

As the parties involved in the election petition tribunal sitting in Osogbo, Osun State capital, hearing the petition filed by APC and its House of Representatives candidate during the 2023 general election, Engr. Benjamin Kayode Adereti against the supposed victory of PDP and its candidate for the House of Representatives Hon.Taofeek Abimbola Ajilesore presents their final written addresses and adopted same before the three-man panel at the tribunal.

In his presentation, the 1st respondent adopted his final written address without any further argument.

While the 2nd respondent argues that the date of issuance of the forged testimonial was not part of the petitioner’s pleading which was the 7th of July 1991 (on a Sunday) with some references which sound like a surprise to the court and all watchers.

The 3rd respondent argued that the age on the certificate is immaterial because the age qualification as of the time of election according to Nigeria’s constitution as amended is 25 years.

The petitioner responded that the judges should take a cursory look into the testimonial, the evidence submitted by the subpoenaed Headmistress of St. Murumba Primary School, the WAEC result and non-compliance with the 2022 electoral act because his petition rest on all the exhibits presented and all the certificates are forged documents and as of the date of issuing the testimonial, Osun State was not in existence so also the date was not a working day. He argued that the 7th of July, 1991 was Sunday.

The petitioner contended that Osun State was created 27th of August 1991 and the age claimed on the testimonial contradicts the age on his certificate of birth and age on his WAEC result. The year of graduation on the testimonial is different from the date he graduated from St. Murumba Catholic Primary School, Lagere, Ile-Ife.

On the WASSCE certificate, the name on it is different from the name on other documents tendered to INEC under oath for documentation.

“Permit me to quote verbatim what Per Sidi Dauda Bage, Retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria said in the case of SALEH v. ABAH & ORS (2017) LPELR-41914(SC)

“This court must take the lead, in righting the wrongs in our society, if and when the opportunity presents itself as in this appeal. Allowing criminality and certificate forgery to continue to percolate into the streams, waters and oceans of our national polity would only mean our waters are and will remain dangerously contaminated.

“The purification efforts must start now, and be sustained as we seek, as a nation, to now ‘change’ from our old culture of reckless impunity. The Nigerian Constitution is supreme. It desires that no one who had ever presented a forged certificate to INEC should contest the election into Nigeria’s National Assembly”.

“This is clear and sacrosanct. More compelling as a judicial determination had been taken by no less than a technical panel sitting in, at least, a panel of three judges as Election Tribunal with a constitutional mandate to determine such issues as they relate to elections and their outcomes, including eligibility.

“This has also been affirmed by the trial Court in this appeal. On these issues, our duty is to apply the Constitution and the law in its start, original form undiluted by ‘coloured’ interpretations.”  (Pp 26 – 31 Paras E – B)”.

Another prayer of the petitioner was the issue of over-voting in some units across the five local governments in the Ife Federal Constituency.

He contended that the CTC of form CF001 was used in 2019 and EC9 which is used for the 2023 election contained all the documents of the People Democratic Party candidate for the House of Representatives in Ife federal constituency were collected from INEC and submitted as part of the exhibits which proved beyond doubt that his testimonial and WAEC are forged certificates.

There was no compliance with the electoral act 2022 on the outcome of the 25th of 2023 general election that made INEC pronounced PDP and its House of Representatives candidate, the winner.

INEC surprisingly allocated over three thousand votes to PDP and Hon. Ooo9Bimbo Ajilesoro across local governments in Ifeland, especially in Ifè South.

APC and its candidate were able to prove that some polling units’ votes allocated to the Peoples Democratic Party candidate were not in tandem with the number of accredited voters. This was discovered after the legal team of Engr. Kayode Adereti presented the CTC BVAS results and voters registered collected from INEC and Form EC8A, EC8B EC8C with EC8D tendered as an exhibit in court.

“We believe in the principle of natural justice that no person can judge a case in which they have an interest (Nemo judex in causa sua)”.

The petitioner called for a fair ground where judgement would be served based on the substance of the case as proven by both parties’ legal teams.