Ekiti: Triumphant Oyebanji hails Appeal Court, as Oni loses again

The Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, has hailed Tuesday’s ruling of the Court of Appeal which reaffirmed his June 18, 2022 election as governor of the state.

He described the Appeal Court verdict as victory for democracy and the people of the state.

Recall that the Court of Appeal, sitting in Ado-Ekiti, had dismissed the appeal of the Candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Segun Oni, for lacking in substance.

Oyebanji, a former secretary to the state government, was declared the winner of the election after securing victory in 15 of the 16 LGAs in the state.

The governor, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, had 187,057 votes, defeating Oni who polled 82,211 votes, and Bisi Kolawole of the Peoples Democratic Party, who got 67,457 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, Oni filed a petition against Oyebanji and the APC before a three-member tribunal chaired by Wilfred Kpochi.

Oni had claimed in his petition that Oyebanji’s election was characterised by irregularities.

He also argued that it was wrong for the Mai Mala Buni-led APC leadership to have supervised the primary that produced Oyebanji as the governorship candidate.

He also alleged that Monisade Afuye, now Ekiti deputy governor, presented fake WAEC results to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

On December 29, the tribunal dismissed Oni’s petition.

Aggrieved, the SDP governorship candidate proceeded to the Court of Appeal canvassing the same issues raised at the tribunal.

In the judgments delivered virtually via Zoom, Hamma Barka who read the lead judgment agreed with the judgment of the tribunal.

Oyebanji in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Mr Yinka Oyebode, said his victory “is to the glory of God and joy of the people of Ekiti State, whose mandate was reconfirmed by the appellate court.”

The Ekiti governor described the ruling of the Appeal Court as a “landmark judgement”, thanking the judiciary for living up to its reputation as the bastion of democracy and last hope of the common man.

The statement added, “He said the judgement should energize members of the ruling APC and the people of Ekiti State to march to the polling units with renewed confidence and determination to vote for  Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and all APC candidates during Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

“Restating his respect for Engr Segun Oni, Governor Oyebanji urged his supporters to celebrate in moderation and avoid any form of name calling or hostility against members of the opposition party. He pointed out that Engr Oni had the right to exercise his constitutional right of seeking judicial intervention in the matter.” 

The statement further quoted Oyebanji as saying, “I dedicate this victory to God and the good people of Ekiti State who have continue to show tremendous support for the administration.  It’s a validation of what they did during the election and I thank the judiciary for upholding our victory as a party.“