Society Gists

The judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal that struck out our petition challenging the outcome of the March 18, 2023, Governorship election in Ogun State is disheartening and a big threat to democracy. This judgment which was based solely on hilarious technicalities failed to consider the substantial merits and evidence tendered during the trial.

We firmly believe in the principles of democracy, transparency, and the rule of law. It is with these principles in mind that we entered into the legal process to seek justice for the people of Ogun State whose mandate was stolen. Our commitment to this course remains unwavering, and 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙭𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙙, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙙.

Regrettably, the 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙. We submitted substantial evidence that raised serious questions about the conduct of the election, even marked ballot papers and we are confident that a closer examination of this evidence would have revealed the true nature of the irregularities and discrepancies that occurred during the election.

In the course of the trial, 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙣-𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨’ 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 49,000 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 which is higher than the margin of lead of 13,915 as “purportedly” declared by INEC; the ballot boxes snatching, over voting among many other electoral malpractices perpetuated by Mr Dapo Abiodun and his party, APC.

We obtained duly Certified True Copies of documents from the electoral umpire, INEC, and paid for with official receipts to back our claims which proved all the content of our petition and justified our concerns over the election.

We condemn unequivocally the judgement of the tribunal, consequently, 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙡. We will not relent until due Justice is served.

With what was displayed at the tribunal on Saturday 30th, September 2023, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙣 who may seek redress through the court shortly if not curtailed.

Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu assures the good people of Ogun State that we will not be deterred by this setback. We will continue to fight for the rights and aspirations of our supporters and the citizens of our dear State. Our determination to see justice served will not be shaken by this judgment, and we will take this matter to the appellate courts to seek a more equitable and just outcome.

We extend our gratitude to our supporters across the State and beyond, who have shown immense resilience and unwavering faith in our cause. We urge them to remain steadfast as we continue this legal battle. We believe that the truth will ultimately prevail, and the will of the people will be acknowledged.

𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙊𝙨𝙪𝙣 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙀𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮, 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝘼𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙡𝙖 𝘼𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙠𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩.

We call on all well-meaning citizens and stakeholders in Ogun State to join us in our unrelenting quest for justice and in upholding the principles of democracy. The fight for a better Ogun State continues, and we remain committed to our vision of a brighter future for our beloved State.

To the good people of Ogun State and our teeming party members, we salute your courage, steadfastness and unwavering support for Hon (Dr) Oladipupo Adebutu and our great party, PDP. We urge you not to be deterred by the pronouncement of the tribunal. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 that you have freely given to us.

Again, we will not retard in seeking desired justice for the people of Ogun State whose mandate was hijacked by the enemies of democracy and due process. As much as you are aware, this set of individuals did everything possible to ensure the PDP and Adebutu were not on the ballot before the election but we came out victorious.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

Thank you all, “ITURA DE TAN”

Signed
𝐀𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢 𝐎𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐨𝐲𝐚
𝐷𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎, 𝙇𝙖𝙙𝙞 𝘼𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙪 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙊𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣