APM Governorship Candidate Slams INEC

The governorship candidate of the Allied People’s Movement in the 2019 election in Ogun State, Adekunle Akinlade, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission  of awarding unlawful votes to  Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress.

Akinlade stated  this on Thursday while appearing as a “star witness”  before the  election petitions tribunal sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta.

Akinlade dragged Abiodun , INEC and  the APC to the tribunal following the declaration  of Abiodun  as winner  of the March 9,2019 governorship election by INEC.

The APM governorship candidate said the electoral umpire erred by  declaring  Abiodun  winner of the  governorship election in spite of the alleged  irregularities that characterised the  election.

Akinlade,  who was grilled for three hours before the  tribunal, was the 37th petitioner witness to give testimony  over the petition challenging Abiodun’s victory.

He was led in the evidence by his team lead counsel, Ahmed Raji SAN, and cross – examined by respondents’ counsel, Prof Taiwo Osipitan (SAN), Adeyinka Olumide (SAN)  and Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN).

According to Akinlade, the March 9 polls were fraught with over voting, improper votes counting and alleged non-compliance to the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

Akinlade said, “I didn’t lose the election. He (Abiodun) didn’t defeat me. After the March 9 election, we did our reviews and analysis, and then we discovered there were some illegalities.

“My Lord, I want the tribunal to do justice to the petition. There were irregularities in the nomination forms of the second respondent.”

Akinlade, however, pleaded with  the election  petitions tribunal to ensure that  justice prevailed in the suit.

The petitioner, who tendered forms EC8A from the affected polling units across the 20 local government areas of the state, urged the tribunal to admit same.

The tribunal  led by Justice Yusuf Halilu, admitted in evidence, the pink copies of the forms as there were no objections from counsel for the respondents.

Earlier, the tribunal admitted in evidence the Certified True Copies of materials used for the election across the state. These included result sheets, voter registers, and smart card readers reports.

The matter was adjourned till July 5 (today) for continuation of hearing.