Reps: Ondo tribunal dismisses LP candidate’s petition against ex-commissioner, Ojogo

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Reps: Ondo tribunal dismisses LP candidate’s petition against ex-commissioner, Ojogo

The Ondo state Election Petitions Tribunal has dismissed the petition filed by the House Representatives candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency, Tunji Balogun, challenging the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Donald Ojogo.

Ojogo, the immediate past information and Orientation Commissioner in the state, had won the March 18 election, polling 26,306 votes to defeat the PDP’s candidate and incumbent member of the House of Representatives, Kolade Akinjo, who polled 22,390 votes

Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Rose Soji, dismissed the petition

following an earlier application by Labour Party and its candidate, Balogun, to discontinue the case.

The Labour Party had earlier petitioned the tribunal, claiming that its candidate was prevented from participating in the election after the logo of the party was excluded from the ballot by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Balogun and his party had earlier prayed that the tribunal should order INEC to conduct a fresh election in the federal constituency with him as a candidate.

Speaking on the dismissal of the petition by the tribunal, the counsel to APC, Yinka Orokoto, said “they (LP) went to the tribunal claiming they were wrongfully excluded from the election and that they did not have their logo on the ballot.

” Their initial prayer was that INEC should conduct a fresh election with him (Balogun) as a candidate.

“It was on the basis of the fact that on October 27, LP submitted its list of candidates, which included his own, to INEC. But INEC told them that the time in which to submit the list of candidates had lapsed because INEC had their own timetable.”

“The Labour Party candidate brought an application to withdraw the case, but on our own part, we insisted that the case should continue.

“After listening to both parties, the tribunal, in its own wisdom, dismissed the case. We are happy they submitted the application.

“We are happy about the ruling of the tribunal because it is the right thing to do. We don’t think they have a case, but rather than go through the whole stress.

Orokoto added that “They think it is wise and the best thing to do, and we think it is the best thing in this circumstance, so we are good with it.”