Ekiti gov tribunal affirms Fayemi’s victory

Andrew Orolua, Abuja

The Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the Federal Capital Territory High Court at Apo in Abuja, on Monday affirmed Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the July 14, 2018, governorship election in Ekiti State. In a unanimous judgement by a three-member panel of Justices, the tribunal held that there was no merit in the petition the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Kolapo Olusola, lodged to challenge Fayemi’s victory at the poll. Consequently, the election tribunal dismissed Olusola petition. Delivering the lead judgement, the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Suleiman Belgore, notes that the PDP and its candidate failed to prove any case of electoral malpractice against Governor Fayemi. He said the inability of the petitioners to call adequate witnesses to testify with regards to the polling units where the alleged irregularities occurred, amounted to dumping of evidence before the tribunal without pleadings. Justice Belgore further held that in the absence of credible evidence substantiated with pleadings, all the allegations raised by the petitioners were therefore deemed abandoned. “Evidence of facts not pleaded goes to nothing”, the tribunal’s Chairman held. The tribunal further held that the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, with respect to the Ekiti state governorship election, would continue to enjoy the presumption of regularity, until such presumption is displaced with credible evidence. The tribunal held that scanty evidence before it, “did not resolve presumption of regularity in favour of the petitioners”. “On the whole, we hold that the petitioners failed to prove the allegations on the balance of probability. More so, the tribunal noted that some of the complaints raised by the petitioners were at variance with evidence they adduced before it. “In fact, oral evidence of some of the witnesses called by the petitioners strengthened the case of the Respondents”. “It is clear that the irregularities claimed in the petition cannot be sustained. We found no reason to disturb the results”. The Justice Belgore-led panel said it was satisfied that the governorship election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, adding that evidence of most of the witnesses brought by the petitioners were discredited during cross-examination.