The founder of Debasco Political Group, Otunba Babatunde Onakoya Debasco has congratulated Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over his electoral victory as the democratically-elected Governor of Ogun State at the State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal holden at Isabo in Abeokuta, the State Capital on Saturday.
Governor Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had his electoral victory upheld as a second term Governor of Ogun State in the March 18 Governorship Election by a three-man Tribunal headed by Justice Hamidu Kunaza, having dismissed the petitions filled by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu on the grounds that the entire petitions “lacked in merit as a whole”.
Justice Kunaza, Chairman of the Tribunal, declared that the testimonies of the 94 witnesses brought by the PDP against APC as being “industrially manufactured, mechanically produced and adopted, contrary to the common occurrence of natural causes” and thereby “proven to be similar, too coincindental and unbelievable to rely on” in determining the petitions.
On the allegation of certificate forgery leveled against Abiodun of APC, the Tribunal held that the petitioner didn’t prove the allegation beyond reasonable doubt by providing witness from the United States of America (USA) to testify that the second defendant (Abiodun).
In striking out the allegation of vote buying and corrupt practices, the Tribunal affirmed that the allegations were two inseparable twin for which the petitioner had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt.
The Court also affirmed that the allegation of certificate forgery and arrest and detention of Abiodun in 1986 were pre-election matters which ought to have been determined 14-days before the election.
Whole upholding Abiodun’s electoral victory, the Tribunal however, dismissed the petitions on all the grounds upon which the petitioner had sought redress in the Court of Law.
Speaking on the victory, Otunba Onakoya, the former Federal Board Member of Benin-Owena River Basin Development Authority, said that judgment was a reflection of the political popularity of APC and Governor Dapo Abiodun which prompted him and APC to be declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and was affirmed by the State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
Otunba Onakoya, who served as Ogun State Mobilizer for the Dapo Abiodun for Second Term (DA for 2nd Term) through the Debasco Political Group, his political movement that cuts across all the 20 local government areas of the State, noted that Dapo Abiodun’s electoral victory was ordained by God, hence, “the lossers from the Opposition Parties should accept the God’s Decision and wait for the 2027 to try their luck for better political outing next time.”
END.