The Ondo State election petition tribunal has fixed June 4 as the date of delivering judgement in the petition filed against Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the APC by the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Agboola Ajayi.
Aiyedatiwa had won the November 16, 2024 election with an 18-0 margin polling a total votes of 366,781 in all the eighteen local government areas of the State.
Dissatisfied, Agboola Ajayi dragged Aiyedatiwa before the election petition tribunal, claiming that the poll was fraught with irregularities.
Apart from the PDP, other political parties also locked horns with the APC. Such political parties as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) also petitioned the tribunal, disputing the credibility of the poll.
During Saturday’s sitting, all the petitioners, in their final addresses, urged the tribunal to nullify the November 16 election, citing what they described as massive irregularities.
However, counsel to Aiyedatiwa, his deputy Dr Olayide Adelami, INEC, and other respondents, Chief Wole Olanipekun and Tayo Oyetibo, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petitions, describing them as lacking merit and substance.
They argued that the petitioners failed to present credible evidence or witnesses to substantiate claims of electoral malpractice.
Following the adoption of final written addresses by all parties, the three-member tribunal, chaired by Justice Benson Ogubu, adjourned proceedings and fixed June 4 for the delivery of its verdict.
