The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has upheld the victory of Abayomi Akinruntan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 11, 2015 House of Assembly election in the Ilaje Constituency 1 of the state.
The three-man tribunal, led by Justice Obojor Ogar, dismissed the petition filed by Leke Akingboye of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for lacking in merit.
Akingboye was challenging the result of the assembly’s election, won by the PDP’s candidate on the grounds of malpractices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
However, the court held that the petitioner failed to substantially prove that the election was marred with irregularities, adding that the APC candidate also failed to tender admissible documentary and oral evidences to consolidate his claims.
The court also dismissed another allegation by Akingboye that the PDP lawmaker was a Labour Party member as of the time he was given the PDP ticket to contest the election.
In his reaction, Akinruntan, who is the son of the Olugbo of Ugboland in Ilaje Local Government Area of the state, Oba Obateru Akinruntan, described the judgement as a victory for democracy.
While the PDP’s counsel, Mr. Remi Olatubora, in his remarks, hailed the judgement, the APC's counsel, Titiloye Charles, said he was not satisfied with the tribunal’s verdict and vowed to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.