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An appeal tribunal on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by the governorship candidate of Accord in the April 11, 2015 election, Sen. Rashidi Ladoja, against a ruling of the governorship tribunal in the state.
Ladoja challenged the ruling of the lower tribunal of August 18. He had, at the lower tribunal, sought a leave to incorporate fresh issues, especially to invite a forensic analyst, Dr Babtunde Adegbola, which the lower court turned down on the grounds that it was filed outside pre-trial conference and that no leave of the court was sought to bring same outside the pre-trial conference.
In a unanimous ruling, the five panelist upheld the decision of the lower tribunal and dismissed Ladoja’s appeal, describing it as lacking in merit and grossly incompetent.
The judges, headed by Justice Saulawa, held that filing the application after the pre-trial conference without the leave of the election tribunal negated the provision of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended
The panel held that such a request should have been accompanied by a written address and an affidavit
The appeal tribunal’s judgment was the fourth in recent times in which petitions against APC candidates in the National Assembly were dismissed.