The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure has
upheld the decision of the lower tribunal, dismissing the appeal filed
by the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate in the August 9, 2014
governorship election in Osun State, Iyiola Omisore.
The court, on Thursday, accepted the
defence of Governor Rauf Aregebsola of the All Progressives Congress
that Omisore’s petition ought to have been dismissed as an abandoned
petition in the first instance by the State Election Petition Tribunal
before hearing by the Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime-led tribunal.
The Justice Gana Mshelia-led Appeal
Court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed Omisore’s appeal for
incompetence, stressing that the grounds of the appeal did not arise
from the judgment of the tribunal.
In determining the appeal, the court
adopted the seven issues raised by the appellants and upheld the
preliminary objections by Aregbesola and the APC’s counsel, while
resolving the issues against the appellant.
Referring to the Tribunal’s judgment,
the Appeal Court noted that the decision of the tribunal was that
Aregbesola’s counsel did not make any admission, and held that Omisore
failed to appeal this specific decision of the tribunal.
The Court of Appeal further held that
the evidential burden on the appellant to prove his case would only
shift to the respondent, if the appellant had put forward cogent,
credible and reliable evidence of non- compliance, which the appellant
had failed to do in the appeal.
It also resolved that contrary to the
complaint of the appellants, the tribunal applied standard of proof on
preponderance of evidence in relation to allegation of non-compliance
and malpractices.
The court also upheld the cross-appeal
filed by Aregbesola when he dismissed the PDP and Omisore’s petition as
having been abandoned for failure to comply with the requirement of
filing pre-hearing notice within the stipulated time under paragraph 18
of First Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2010, as amended.
It however stated that the tribunal was
wrong to have saved the petition relying on paragraph 53(1) of the 1st
Schedule to the Electoral Act “because Paragraph 53(1) only applies
where the 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act does not provide for the
consequences of non-compliance with the rules.”
The Court of Appeal was convinced that
paragraph 18(4) expressly provided for consequences of failure to issue
application for pre-hearing notice.
Omisore has, however, vowed to appeal the dismissal.
Omisore, who spoke to one of our
correspondents on the telephone through his media aide, Mr. Victor
Oriola, said he was not going to let the alleged manipulation of the
August 9, 2014 governorship election go without fighting it to the very
end.
He said, “We will go through the whole
gamut of the legal process. We believe we have a good case and we will
pursue it to the end.
“All the areas overlooked at the tribunal and the Appeal Court will be visited by the Supreme Court.”
Reacting to the Court of Appeal’s
verdict, the APC in Osun State hailed the judgment, describing it as a
confirmation of the rejection of Omisore by the majority of the people
of the state.
The Director of Publicity of the APC in Osun State, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, said this in a statement in Osogbo on Thursday.
The statement read, “Even if Omisore
decides to go as far as the Supreme Court to plead his phantom victory
at that election, he will also fail, because the people’s will not to
elect him as the governor of the Osun State is emphatic.”
It will be recalled that Justice
Elizabeth Ikpejime- led Election Petitions Tribunal had on February 6th
dismissed Omisore’s petition against Aregbesola.
Not satisfied with the verdict of the
lower tribunal, the petitioner had filed an appeal against it to the
Appeal Court in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
But the appellate court also dismissed the PDP candidate’s appeal.
