Yusuf Oketola
THE Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Osogbo, Capital of the State of Osun, has dismissed five petitions filed by the Action Alliance (AA) against five lawmakers-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Action Alliance had filed the petitions against PDP and its candidates who won Senatorial and House of Representatives seats in the February 25 general election, on the grounds that it was omitted from the ballot.
But the five petitions were dismissed on Monday.
The petitions were against the Senator-elect of Osun Central, Mr. Olubiyi Fadeyi; Senator-elect for Osun East, Senator Francis Fadahunsi; and House of Representatives member-elect for Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore/Ejigbo Federal Constituency, Hon. Bamidele Salam, among others.
At the tribunal sitting on Monday, PDP’s counsel, Oyewole Jimi-Bada, moving an oral application and citing the provisions of Schedule One, Paragraph 18, sub-paragraph 1 (A) of the Electoral Act, said failure of the petitioners to appear for the pre-hearing trial should automatically amount to the dismissal of the petitions.
Similarly, counsel to the first respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Bukola Durojaye, argued that neither the petitioners, nor their representatives or their counsels were in Court, which indicated that they had abandoned the case.
Also, one of the counsels to the PDP, Mr Kolapo Alimi, applied for an order of the tribunal to compel the petitioners to pay a cost of N1m to the respondents.
In a short ruling on all the cases, Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice V. O Eboreime, dismissed the petitions based on the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The judge noted that “In view of the clear provisions of paragraph 18 (11) (a) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act and the Non-Compliance of Petitioners, to wit: non-appearance of the petitioners and their counsels to obey this scheduling for pre-hearing, the case of the petitioners is hereby dismissed.”
Justice Eboreime, however, refused the application for the award of cost and directed parties to bear their costs.
