APC, PDP Trade Words Over Media Trial On Election Petition Tribunal

 

Ismaeel Uthman

MUTUAL suspicion, reactions and counter-reactions have characterised the conduct of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the activities of governorship election tribunal hearing Governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s petition against the victory of Governor-elect, Sen. Ademola Adeleke at the July 16 poll. 

Both the APC and PDP have been engaging in brickbats, pointing accusing fingers to each other on virtually all issues that affect the tribunal. 

The APC, on Wednesday, accused the PDP of embarking on what it described as media terrorism to misinform members of the public on the proceedings at the tribunal in Osogbo, the state capital.

According to the state Chairman of the APC, Prince Gboyega Famodun, in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Kola Olabisi, PDP has been using fake reporting to confuse and mislead the unsuspecting members of the public on the ongoing proceedings at the tribunal. 

Famodun noted that the use of media terrorism introduced on the reportage of the tribunal proceedings would not confer any positive advantage on the PDP and the Governor-elect, Adeleke.

He reiterated that “no amount of pranks and introduction of untoward phlegmatic legal chicaneries laced with media terrorism and physical threat would prevent Governor Gboyega Oyetola from retrieving his obviously stolen mandate from the PDP candidate.”

The APC Chairman said the delayed tactics allegedly embarked upon by the PDP at the tribunal “for an unmerited ulterior motive is already known to the discerning members of the public”, adding that the opposition party could only run, but it could not hide.

Famodun asked: “What could have been responsible for the jittery conduct of the PDP handlers for creating a brick wall over the smooth running of the tribunal, if not the available iron-caste proof of the APC that Adeleke was wrongly declared the winner of the July 16, 2022 governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)?

He warned the PDP to stop heaping insults on the reputable lawyers that have distinguished themselves in their chosen profession by getting to its pinnacle.

However, in a swift reaction, the PDP chided APC “for denying its principal culpability for media trial and judicial misrepresentation in the ongoing hearing of the election governorship petition despite avalanche of evidence and facts.”

In the statement signed by the State Caretaker Chairman of the party, Dr Akindele Adekunle, the party said: “We saw the many advantages we had from the conduct of the petitioners’ counsels to the brilliant presentations of respondents’ lawyers but we opted not to issue a statement as a way of keeping our eyes on the ball. How APC turned around to blame us for its legal woes is still a puzzle for us.

“The PDP as a law abiding body has every responsibility to bring the court order nullifying Mr Oyetola’s candidature to the notice of the tribunal. The legal basis for this is the reality that today the petitioner was not a candidate at the election he is challenging at the tribunal. If the petitioner is not a candidate at that election and as long as that order subsists, the tribunal indeed has nothing to proceed on.

“As much as we are ready for the defence against the frivolous election petition of Mr Oyetola, APC should not blame the PDP for a judicial process which requires compliance with procedures. APC has filed several applications which the tribunal has to dispose off before actually treating the election petition. If APC is really eager to dispose off the petition, how come it filed so many applications?

“At this stage, we want to call on Mr Oyetola and his team to get proper grasp of their legal conundrum and do the needful by withdrawing their defective petition before the tribunal. It is never late to admit to grave political and legal errors.”