The Ogun State governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abeokuta, the State capital, has said it will decide whether to entertain the issue of vote buying, brought before it, by both the All Progressives Congress, (APC), and the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).
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The court said this at its Tuesday’s sitting.
Counsel to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Dapo Abiodun, Taiwo Osipitan, had accused the People’s Democratic Party (PD)P), and its candidate, Ladi Adebutu of vote buying in one of it’s motion, which Goddy Uche, counsel of the petitioner in its reply also accused the APC of same.
Mr Uche also insisted that Mr Abiodun who is the second respondent, should not be responding amiss, adding that the case of vote buying was not initially in the petition before the tribunal.
He added that he was however, compelled to also reply that the APC was the one responsible for alleged vote buying.
Mr Osipitan, from the point of law, contested Mr Uche’s position saying the PDP cannot input any further allegation into its petition, asking the court to stop any of such attempt “as it will amount to an expansion of the PDP petition.”
It will be recalled that both the APC and the PDP had accused each other of unprecedented vote buying during the March 18th governorship election.
A police investigation replying on an APC petition had earlier indicted Mr Adebutu of alleged vote buying with the sum of N2 billion Naira through an ATM card preloaded with N10,000 each.
Also, acting upon a petition, instituted by the PDP, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, has directed Police Commissioner in the state, Olanrewaju Oladimeji, to investigate Governor Abiodun over allegations that he loaded N5 billion on bank-linked vouchers to buy votes during the same election.
Speaking with journalists after the sitting, Mr Osipitan said he will wait for the tribunal to decide on the matter, saying it only behoves on him to challenge.
On his part, Mr Uche also said, “We had argued all the motions except one for which we will be back tomorrow to argue, and after tomorrow maybe the tribunal will give us a date for trial.
“We have brought a motion to expunge their vote buying allegation because they can’t make such allegation, it is not expected to be in their reply, if they want to make that allegation, they should have filed a cross petition and that is our objection. Although they are not sounding serious about it, but we ask the court to strike it out.”
Meanwhile, The Chairman of the three- man panel, Hamidu Kunaza, however adjourned to 19th June, for ruling on the motion.
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