The Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Ado Ekiti has upheld the election of Governor.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared APC governorship candidate, Oyebanji as the winner of the June 18, 2022 election.
Oyebanji got 187,057 votes to defeat his closest rival, the SDP candidate Chief Segun Oni, who had 82,211 votes.
However, not satisfied with the declaration of the APC candidate as the winner of the poll, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Segun Oni approached the governorship election petition tribunal, seeking to be declared the winner of the poll.
According to Oni, he got the highest number of valid votes.
Oni also claimed in his petition that Mrs Afuye now-Deputy Governor submitted fake West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
On November 23, the three-member tribunal led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi reserved judgment after listening to the sides in the matter.Judgment was subsequently reserved and the tribunal later informed the parties that the judgment would be delivered on Wednesday, December 28.
However, the date was later shifted to Thursday (today).Delivering its ruling on the petition, the tribunal threw out Oni’s case and affirmed that Oyebanji is the duly elected governor of the state.
The tribunal noted that all certificates presented by Afuye are genuine.Oyebanji was sworn in as the state governor on October 16, 2022.
