The Ondo State Election Petition Tribunal on Tuesday struck out the case filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the October 10, 2020 governorship poll in the state, Eyitayo Jegede against the victory of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
Jegede had approached the tribunal seeking the nullification of Akeredolu as the winner of the election on the ground of irregularities and invalid nomination of Akeredolu as the flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the election.
The three-man panel led by Justice Umar Abubakar in a verdict delivered on Tuesday via zoom dismissed Jegede’s petition.
The verdict was delivered via zoom as the regular venue of the panel was not open due to the strike action embarked upon by members of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).
The tribunal dismissed all the grounds of the PDP candidate’s petition for lack of merit.
“The issue raised therein in this petition are settled issue of internal affairs and Management of a political party which this Tribunal has no Jurisdiction,” Abubakar ruled.
Reacting to the outcome, Akeredolu addressed journalists at the Government House, Akure, the state capital on the judgement.
While thanking the tribunal for the judgement and the people of the state for their support, asking the PDP candidate to join hands with him to move the state forward.
The tribunal had last week announced in a notice made available to journalists that judgment had been fixed for Wednesday.
However, in another notice issued on Monday evening by the Tribunal Secretary, parties involved in the case were informed that the date has changed to Tuesday.