Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, continues to fight over the outcome of the governorship election in Ogun State.
The incumbent Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after receiving 276,298 votes to defeat Adebutu, who received 262,383 votes.
Biyi Otegbeye, a candidate for the African Democratic Congress, came in third place with 94,754 votes.
Adebutu, on the other hand, had petitioned the Ogun State election petition tribunal in Abeokuta, asking the court to overturn Abiodun’s victory.
According to a copy of the petition obtained, Adebutu and the PDP claimed in the petition that Abiodun’s election was “invalid due to non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and corrupt practices.”
The petitioners claimed that Abiodun was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast at the election and that he was not qualified to run at the time of the election.
The petitioners claimed that the first respondent’s refusal to comply with the Electoral Act 2022 and other existing laws had a significant impact on the election’s outcome and that Abiodun should not have been declared or returned as the winner.
They claimed that there was “over voting; votes cast more than the total number of voters accredited; alteration on Certified True Copies of results sheets not reflected on duplicate copies given to party agents; polling units without corresponding voting points result sheets; over and/or under balloting; and non-compliance with mandatory stipulated methods and steps.”
“Discrepancies between result sheets and digital accreditation records from the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS); discrepancies between result sheets and records on Voters’ Registers; improper additions of figures on EC8A, EC8B, and EC8C; alterations of information on customised result sheets; alterations of figures on result sheets; gross misconduct of electoral officers; misappropriation of Ballot Papers; and non-accounting of Ballot Papers” are among others.
According to Adebutu and his party, there were several irregularities in approximately 845 polling units across Ogun State, including Ado-Odo/Ota, Ijebu North, Imeko-Afon, Ipokia, Yewa South, Ifo, Sagamu, Obafemi-Owode, and others.
According to the petition filed by their counsel, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chris Uche, and others, INEC Presiding Officers “allowed persons who were not accredited with the BVAS machines to vote at the said election,” and that in 34 polling units, the total votes cast exceeded the total number of accredited voters as recorded on the BVAS machine.
The PDP claimed that the total number of voters captured by BVAS was 216 at Ita Emilandu, Imeko Ward of Imeko-Afon Local Government, but the total number of votes recorded was 1,322. The petitioners claimed that the figure of 1,110 votes was inflated because four votes were rejected in the polling unit.
The party claimed that 230 people were accredited by the BVAS machine at OOLG school in Magboro, Ofada Ward of Obafemi-Owode LG, but 494 votes were recorded for the parties.
Similarly, 162 voters were reportedly accredited at Lafenwa Village Square in Iju Ward, Ado-Odo/Ota LG, but 293 votes were recorded on INEC result sheets.
Adebutu also revealed that in five polling units, the number of accredited voters exceeded the number of registered voters as recorded on the Form EC8As.
One example is the Oja Ale polling unit in Ado-Odo Ward 1, Ado-Odo/Ota LG, where the total number of registered voters was 117, but 357 people were allegedly accredited on Form EC8A.
The total number of accredited voters recorded on Form EC8As in ten polling units was reportedly greater than the number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) collected in those polling units.
The petitioners also claimed that in 121 polling units, the total number of ballot papers used to cast valid votes for all parties, plus the number of rejected ballot papers and spoilt ballot papers, did not equal the total number of ballot papers claimed to have been used.
They claimed that these “unaccounted ballot papers totalled 4, 899 and were thus used to inflate the scores allocated to the 2nd Respondent.”
For example, in Ita Emilandu, Imeko Ward of Imeko-Afon LG, petitioners claimed that the total number of ballot papers used, according to Form EC8A, was 216, but the total number of votes cast was 1,322.
Adebutu and his party also revealed that on the face of the Form EC8A’s for 74 polling units, there were obvious discrepancies between the scores ascribed to the parties and the total votes cast as recorded in the total column of the Form EC8A’s, allowing INEC officials “to manipulate the outcome of the election in the affected polling units in favour of the second respondent.”
According to the petition, the total number of registered voters recorded in Form EC8As does not tally with the total number of voters on the Voters Registers in 409 polling units, “which affected the outcome of the election in the affected polling units.”
Margin of victory
The petitioners contended that the declaration and return of the second respondent as the winner of the Ogun State Governorship Election violated Sections 24(2 & 3); 47(3); 51(2); and 62 of the Electoral Act 2022.
According to them, due to violent disruptions of the electoral process and over voting, elections were cancelled in 99 polling units spanning 41 wards and 16 Local Government Areas in Ogun State during the gubernatorial election.
“The 1st Respondent having cancelled the election in the 99 polling, either due to disruption of the electoral process and/or over-voting failed to appoint another date to conduct a repeat election in those polling units in gross violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and instead, hurriedly proceeded to declare the 2nd Respondent as the winner of the election despite the total number of collected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCS) being more than the difference between the scores of the 2nd Respondent and the 1″ Petitioner,” the PDP stated.
The petitioners also claimed that the votes “ascribed” to Abiodun by INEC in the final declaration were 276,298, while the votes purportedly credited to Adebutu were 262,383, resulting in a 13,915 vote margin of victory.
It stated that the total number of PVCs collected in polling units where elections were cancelled across Ogun State in the election was 49,066, noting that the figure exceeded the 13,915 margin of lead between the first petitioner and the second respondent.
According to the petitioners, INEC’s “breach of the Margin of Lead Principle” disenfranchised a total of 49,066 registered voters in Ogun State who had collected their PVCs and were ready to vote in the said election, a figure that would have had a significant impact on the true outcome of the election.
They contended that, if INEC was truly acting as an unbiased umpire, it should have refused to make a return for the election until new polls were held in the affected polling units.
“The Petitioners contend and will urge this Honourable Tribunal to hold that the outcome of polls in the affected Polling Units will have a significant impact on the outcome of the election if elections were held in the said Polling Units prior to the wrongful declaration and return of the 2nd Respondent.”
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“The Petitioners shall further contend that, given the margin of lead and the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCS) collected, the return of the 2nd Respondent as duly elected to the office of Governor of Ogun State was hasty, arbitrary, premature, undue, and wrongful,” the petition stated.
Claim based on the total number of valid votes cast
In summary, Adebutu claimed that there were 1,608 violations, including over-voting, non-compliance with regulations for Ballot Papers accounting when using Forms EC8A, non-compliance with regulations for Ballot Papers accounting when using Forms EC40A, and non-compliance with instructions for collating results.
“As a result, 63, 015 votes will be deducted from the 2nd Respondent and 35, 228 votes will be deducted from the 1st Petitioner; the 1st Petitioner will lead the 2nd Respondent by a large margin of 27, 787 lawful votes.”
“In proof of this ground, the Petitioners hereby plead and shall rely on an extract of data from the BVAS contained in the 1st Respondent’s electronic collation system/storage device.”
“The Petitioners shall also rely on the data in the 1st Respondent’s electronic collation system and storage device for the period covering the period of the 18th March 2023 to the 20th March 2023, and the 1st Respondent is hereby also given notice to produce same before this Honourable Court,” the PDP said.
Prayers
The petitioners claimed in some of their prayers that “it may be determined and declared that the 2nd Respondent was not duly elected or returned by a majority of lawful votes cast at the Governorship Election held in Ogun State on March 18, 2023.”
“That it be determined and declared that the 1st Petitioner received the greatest number of valid votes cast at the election and fulfilled the requirements of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution and ought to be returned and is returned as the winner of the Governorship election held in Ogun State on March 18, 2023.”
“An order of this Honourable Tribunal setting aside the Certificate of Return dated March 20, 2023, which the 1st Respondent issued incorrectly to the 2nd Respondent.”
“An order directing the 1st Respondent to immediately issue to the 1st Petitioner a Certificate of Return as the duly elected Governor of Ogun State.”
“An order of this Honourable Tribunal directing the 1st Respondent to conduct fresh elections in the 99 polling units spanning 41 wards and 16 Local Government Areas of Ogun State where elections were either not held or cancelled due to disruption and over-voting.”
“An order of this Honourable Tribunal directing the 1st Respondent to hold a new election for the office of Governor of Ogun State, with the 2nd and 3rd Respondents excluded.”
“Any further appropriate consequential relief(s) that this Honourable Tribunal may deem fit and expedient to make in this Petition.”
Bring evidence to back up your claims, Abiodun.
Meanwhile, the second respondent, Governor Abiodun, has requested that the petitioners provide sufficient evidence in court to back up their claims.
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Abiodun stated that anyone can allege anything, but whoever alleges must prove it.
Abiodun challenged Adebutu and the PDP to come and prove their claims through his lawyer, Professor Taiwo Osipitan, saying “we are waiting for them.”
On Monday, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria stated that his team would do everything possible to prove that the petitioners’ allegations were a figment of their imagination.
“Anything can be alleged, but whoever alleges must prove it.” Allow them to come and demonstrate; that is why we are here.
“We’re waiting for them to bring evidence to back up whatever they’ve claimed.”
“But, let’s see.” “We will not pass judgement, but we will do everything in our power to demonstrate that what they are saying is a figment of their imagination,” Osipitan said.
