Appeal Court nullifies vote-buying allegation against Abiodun, APC

A special panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the decision of the Ogun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which had earlier struck out all allegations of vote-buying and voter inducement preferred against Governor Dapo Abiodun and APC by the that PDP and its gubernatorial candidate in Ogun State,  Ladi Adebutu.

The court, in its lead judgement delivered by Justice MB Idris on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, also upheld the decision of the tribunal which confirmed the validity of the defence filed by Governor Abiodun.

It would be recalled that Adebutu and PDP, on May 22, 2023, filed a reply to the defence filed by Abiodun.

In the suit, Adebutu and PDP alleged that the governor and APC bought votes in the March 18, 2023, governorship election in Ogun State.

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Abiodun’s lawyers later filed an application asking the tribunal to strike out the reply in its entirety or in the alternative, to strike out offending paragraphs from the reply.

The governor’s lawyers argued that the reply filed by Adebutu and PDP contravened Pararagraph 16(1)(a & b) of the Schedule to the Electoral Act and the rules of court pleadings.

The tribunal further agreed with the governor’s lawyers and struck out the entire reply filed by Adebutu and the PDP.

However, the Court of Appeal, on Wednesday, confirmed that all allegations of vote-buying in Adebutu’s reply were incompetent as the court struck out paragraphs 21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, and 44 of the reply leaving other few paragraphs.

The Court of Appeal also struck out the entire appeal filed by Adebutu and PDP against the decision of the tribunal which upheld the validity of Governor Abiodun’s defence.

The Star