The Appeal Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, on Friday reserved judgment in a 19-ground appeals against the September 10, 2019 judgment of an election petitions tribunal which removed Adedayo Adeyeye as the senator representing Ekiti South.
Justice Uzor-Amaka Anyanwu who presided over the three-man panel of the Appeal, said the date of the judgement, when fixed, would be communicated to the parties through their lawyer.
The 19-ground appeals were filed by Adeyeye to challenge the verdict of the Ekiti State National/State Assembly Election Tribunal delivered on September 10.
The three-member panel of the Tribunal led by Justice Danladi Adeck, in a judgment delivered on 10th September, 2019, ordered INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return given to Adeyeye and issue a fresh one to Olujimi.
The panel upheld Olujimi’s averments that there was no proper accreditation, there was no proper account of ballots and that the number of votes or ballots recorded is more or less than the number of accredited voters, among others.
After the Tribunal deducted votes from what the two parties scored at the election, PDP was left with 54,894 and APC was credited with 52,243.
In the Notice of Appeal filed at the Appeal Court, the Chairman of Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs is seeking two reliefs in his bid to upturn Olujimi’s victory at the Tribunal.
Adeyeye prayed the appellate court “to allow the appeal and set aside the declaration and return of Olujimi.”
The Senate spokesman urged the Court of Appeal to affirm his declaration and return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the senatorial poll held in the district on February 23.
Counsel to the appellant, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja, SAN while giving his final address argued that the tribunal was wrong in declaring Senator Biodun Olujimi winner of the February 23rd poll.
He noted that the report of inspection of election materials of which the tribunal based his decision on was not included as part of the original prayers of the petitioner at the time.
But, counsel to Senator Olujimi and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mr. Wahab Egbewole maintained that the report labeled as exhibit 385 was submissible since all parties involved in the case were present at the inspection.
While Adeyeye ran on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Olujimi, the immediate past Senate Minority Leader sought re-election on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
