The Court of Appeal in Ibadan on Friday dismissed the petition filed by former Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, to challenge the ruling of the Election Petition Tribunal which upheld the victory of Sen. Kola Balogun.
Balogun of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) polled a total of 105,720 votes to defect Ajimobi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who had 92,218 votes in the Feb. 23 National Assembly Election for Oyo South, a victory Ajimobi challenged at the tribunal but lost.
Delivering judgment at the Appeal Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani, dismissed Ajimobi’s petition for lacking in merit and affirmed the decision of the tribunal.
The judge ruled that the petitioner does not have the right to raise the issue of the non-qualification of the respondent based on the conduct of PDP primary, adding that a person that does not participate in the party primary does not have the right to challenge its outcome.
Tsammani affirmed that a person is qualified to contest, having satisfied the condition of the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He also maintained that most of the petitioner’s witnesses were not qualified to tender exhibits and give evidence because they are not the maker of the tendered documents.
