Appeal court upholds Ogun gov’s victory

The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, yesterday dismissed the appeal filed by candidate of Allied People’s Movement (APM) Adekunle Akinlade, over the March 9 governorship election in Ogun State. The appeal was against the ruling of the election petition tribunal which affirmed Governor Dapo Abiodun’s victory. The court upheld the […]

The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, yesterday dismissed the appeal filed by candidate of Allied People’s Movement (APM) Adekunle Akinlade, over the March 9 governorship election in Ogun State.

The appeal was against the ruling of the election petition tribunal which affirmed Governor Dapo Abiodun’s victory.

The court upheld the election of Governor Dapo Abiodun as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The three-man panel in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Ambi-Usi Danjuma, who stood in for the head of the panel, Justice Abubakar Yahyah, dismissed the appeal filed by Akinlade, for lack of merit.

Akinlade had dragged the APC as the first respondent and Governor Abiodun as second respondent, before the Court of Appeal following the judgment of Ogun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that also dismissed his (Akinlade’s) petition.

Meanwhile, the Ogun State chapter of the APC has said that the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun at the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, has put paid to political distractions on the March 9 gubernatorial polls.

Reacting to the judgement, the publicity secretary of the party’s caretaker committee, Tunde Oladunjoye, said it was “a true reflection of the overwhelming wishes of Ogun people as freely expressed in the March 9 governorship election.”