The Ogun State governorship election petition tribunal has dismissed as incompetent, the petition brought forth by Ladi Adebutu, the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because it referred to INEC’s result as “purported.”
The petition contested the legitimacy of the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in March as the outcome of the polls against incumbent governor, Dapo Abiodun.
On Saturday, the tribunal concluded that Mr Adebutu’s petition was fatally flawed on the grounds of incompetence hinged upon the fact that the petitioner’s case did not directly address the election results as officially declared by INEC. Rather, Mr Adebutu’s petition had insinuated that the results were “purported,” which, in essence, suggested that he might have come before the tribunal to argue based on mere rumours rather than established facts.
In its ruling, the tribunal asserted, “Petitioners have a duty, as outlined in the Schedule, to plead the election results as officially announced. Regrettably, the petitioners failed to fulfil this duty. Instead, they used the word ‘purportedly’ when describing the election results, a term that, according to the dictionary, implies unverified rumours. Therefore, the court finds that the petitioners should have challenged the officially announced results, not unsubstantiated rumours.”
Consequently, the tribunal arrived at a decision, deeming the petition as legally incompetent due to this fundamental flaw. The tribunal’s decision may have underscored the significance of adhering to procedural norms in election petitions, emphasizing that claims must be based on credible and officially recognized election results it could also mean to some analysts, a miscarriage of Justice unreasonably hinged on a ridiculous technicality as it was clear that the figures were in fact INEC’s figures.
This particular aspect of Mr Adebutu’s petition, which centred on alleged irregularities such as cancelled votes, fake ballot papers, overvoting, and the failure to utilize the Biometric Verification Authentication System (BVAS), was relegated to the periphery by the tribunal. Instead, the tribunal’s focus primarily honed in on the use of the term “purportedly” by the petitioner when addressing the election results.
The implications of this ruling are far-reaching. INEC declared that Mr Abiodun won the election polling 276,298 votes against Mr Adebutu’s 262,383. At the time of the announcement, the margin of lead was less than the number of voters who could not cast their votes due to violence and other factors. In cases like this, the number of voters left out could significantly affect the results of the election had they voted, the law requires that the election be declared inconclusive and supplementary elections held.
The solid ground upon which Mr Adebutu built his petition, according to the court, will no longer matter because the legal team referred to the figures as “purported.”