Mimiko wins appeal

Appeal court, sitting in Akure, the Ondo state capital, today dismissed the appeals filled by the Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN,with its governorship candidate, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu and the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, governorship candidate, Mr. Olusola Oke.

In a unanimous judgment, the chairman of the five-member panel, Justice Garba Mohammed submitted that the issue of injection of unlawful names into the voters register is not a pre-election matter, saying the tribunal had the jurisdiction to entertain the petitions and even the appeal before the appellate court.

According to the appeal court, the voters register was used in the election and formed part of the election, saying, the tribunal was wrong to say it is a pre election matter.

The appellate court said the ACN and Akeredolu failed to substantially prove how the unlawful injection of names affected the result of the October 20, governorship election.

It added that the appellate did not convince the court beyond reasonable doubt that the injected names voted in favor of Mimiko.

The appeal court also agreed that the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC, also breached a section of the electoral law by not displaying or publishing for the public to scrutinized.

It said the breach is therefore not enough to fault the process and the entire election.

The court ruled that ACN and Akeredolu evidences were not substantial enough to convince it to upturn the election.

It also said the PDP governorship candidate, Mr. Olusola Oke failed to provide evidence to support his numerous allegation of non compliance in his appeal.

The court said it is not possible for Oke to give witness evidence for all the polling units in the state, saying, he couldn’t have been everywhere at the same time.

It said Oke’s appeal lacked merit, hence dismissed same.

Meanwhile, counsel to the ACN, Mr. Kola Olawoye has described the judgment as shocking and unacceptable, saying since the appellate court has accepted that the issue of injection of unlawful names is no more a pre election matter, the earlier judgment of the tribunal ought to have been set aside.

Also, counsel to Oke, Mr Abdukadri Ajana said the issue of unlawful injection of names into the voters register is like a virus in the election which invalidated the whole process of the said election.

A chieftain of ACN in the state and a legal practitioner, Mr. Tunji Abayomi contended that the judgment was good for the betterment of Nigerian democracy.