Admin l Monday, September 09, 2019
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – It was jubilation all the way for Senator Oluremi Tinubu at the National Assembly and State Houses Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal , Ikeja were she was affirmed as the duly elected senator of the Lagos Central senatorial constituency during the 2019 general election.
The three-man tribunal led by Justice Kunaza Hamidu, in a seven-hour judgement held that the petition filed by Chief Adesunbo Onitiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the election of Senator Oluremi Tinubu failed as it did not establish a prima facie case against the Senator.
Other members of the tribunal are Justices W.R. Olamide and S.I. Okpara. “The petition lacked merit and is hereby dismissed. The declaration of Senator Oluremi Tinubu by INEC as winner of February 23 National Assembly election is hereby affirmed”, the tribunal declared.
Chief Onitiri had dragged Senator Tinubu and INEC before the Tribunal, challenging the result of the Lagos Central Senatorial District election over alleged irregularities. APC and Independent National Election Commission (INEC) were joined as second and third respondents.
Chief Onitiri had alleged that INEC wrongly declared Senator Tinubu winner with 131,725 votes, while he was said to have scored 89,107 votes
He claimed that the INEC ought to have declared him (Onitiri), the winner of the election instead of Tinubu, claiming that he scored the highest lawful votes cast at the election.
In a petition filed before the tribunal on his behalf by his counsel, Onome Akpeneye, the PDP Senatorial Candidate for Lagos Central in the February 23 elections alleged that the results declared by the INEC was fraught with vote-buying, violence, over-voting, inducement of voters with monetary and material gains, campaigning and lobbying voters, on the day of election.
Chief Onitiri claimed that apart from the listed irregularities, there were irreconcilable entries in the result declared and the number of votes recorded in favour of Senator Tinubu by INEC in forms EC8A and EC8B respectively.
“The final result was signed only by the agent of APC and the Senatorial INEC Returning officer in an unknown location.” he added.
But in their defence, Senator Tinubu, APC and INEC through their counsels, Ezekiel Ashade and Busayo Onabanjo respectively, debunked all the allegations contained in the petition describing them as unfounded fabrications.
