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The governorship, National Assembly and House of Assembly election petitions tribunal in Oyo State on Tuesday granted the All Progressives Congress(APC) leave to serve the winner of the Oyo South senatorial election, Dr. Kola Balogun and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the court notice by substituted means.
The tribunal while ruling on an ex parte motion filed by the APC on behalf of its candidate, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, granted the request of the petitioner to serve the first and second respondent by pasting the relevant documents in the petition on the notice board or conspicuous part of the PDP Secretariat in Ibadan.
The tribunal also granted same relief to the APC candidate for Ibarapa East/Ido federal constituency, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, who is challenging the victory of the PDP candidate, Mr. Oluyemi Taiwo in the February 23 National Assembly election.
Counsel to the APC, Kunle Sobaloju, stated that the party decided to challenge Balogun’s victory due to some malpractices observed in the conduct of the Oyo South senatorial district election, adding that the party is of the opinion that Balogun is not qualified to contest the election because he did not participate in the primary of his party.
Meanwhile, the tribunal says it has received 16 petitions since the conclusion of the February 23 National Assembly elections in the state.
The chairman of the election tribunal, Justice Dennis Igyuse revealed this, adding that the petitions include seven petitions from Providence Peoples Congress(PPC), calling for cancellation of the election from seven federal constituencies on the premise that the party’s logo was unlawfully excluded from the ballot paper used for the election.
According to him, three petitions were from senatorial elections in the state and it includes a petition filed by the APC on behalf of Governor Ajimobi against Dr. Kola Balogun of the PDP over the Oyo South senatorial district election.
Justice Igyuse who was addressing members of bar during the sitting of the tribunal, sought the cooperation of lawyers in ensuring speedy hearing of all petitions.
He described the tribunal as the concluding part of 2019 general elections and promised to be fair to all parties.