Tribunal Nullifies House of Representatives Member’s Election in Ondo
The Ondo State Election Petitions
Tribunal sitting in Akure Thursday nullified the election of Ikengboju
Gboluga, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives
member.
Gboluga is representing Okitipupa/Irele constituency in the House of Representatives.
The court nullified his election for
swearing his allegiance to the United Kingdom (UK) having acquired the
citizenship of the country.
The court emphasised that he was not
eligible to contest for the February 23 National Assembly elections for
his allegiance with UK.
The three-man panel headed by Justice
Nuhu Adi also declared Albert Akintoye of the All Progressives Congress
(APC) winner of the election and ordered the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a Certificate of Return to Akintoye
after withdrawing same from Gboluga.
The petitioner wanted the tribunal to
declare him winner of the election on the ground that the first
respondent, Gboluga, was not validly elected by majority of lawful votes
cast.
Besides, he said Gboluga was not
eligible to stand for the election having sworn to an oath of allegiance
to the United Kingdom as enunciated by section 66 sub-section one of
the 1999 constitution.
The tribunal chairman, Justice Nuhu Adi,
said evidences of 15 witnesses called by the petitioner, including
himself were not sufficient to prove that the grounds of non-compliance
with the electoral laws substantially affected the conduct and outcome
of the election
Justice Adi also said Gboluga’s counsel
did not oppose the evidence tendered by the petitioner that the PDP
lawmaker swore to an oath of allegiance to the UK.
He said in line with extant laws, the
tribunal was convinced that Gboluga was not eligible to run for the
election and therefore, nullified his victory
He, therefore, ordered INEC to issue the
petitioner a certificate of return as the first runner up since the
votes credited to Gboluga had been a waste.
Akintoye expressed gratitude to the Ondo
Elections Petition Tribunal for upholding his prayers to be declared
winner of the February 2019 House of Representatives election.
He said his victory showed the rule of
law at work and expressed readiness for further actions on the judgment
by the respondents.
His counsel, Adamson Adeboro, said the
tribunal was right to have upheld their arguments that Gboluga was not
eligible to contest having admitted to have swore oath of allegiance to
the United Kingdom.
However, the counsel to Gboluga, Olumide Ogunje, said his client would appeal the judgment.
The state chairman of APC, Ade
Adetimehin, lauded the tribunal’s judgment and hailed the resilience of
Akintoye to reclaim his mandate in court.
He said the victory has swelled the ranks of the APC, particularly in the National Assembly.
Adetimehin appealed to INEC to immediately issue a certificate of return to Akintoye as directed by the tribunal.
(NAN)
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