The governorship election petition tribunal in Oyo State has dismissed the petition of the Action Alliance (AA) and its gubernatorial candidate, Babatunde Samson Ajala against Governor Seyi Makinde.
The three-man tribunal, led by Justice Ejiro Emudainohwu, delivered the judgement on Friday.
Other members of the tribunal who sat in Ibadan, the state capital, are Justices Baraka Wali and I. S. Galadima.
Makinde was declared the winner of the gubernatorial election held on Saturday, 18th March 2023. But the Action Alliance and its candidate approached the tribunal and called for the cancellation of the election result owing to the alleged exclusion of the name of its candidate.
Counsel to AA and its candidate, Etibo Orowo King told the tribunal that the party and its candidate had decided to discontinue the case.
He urged the tribunal to strike out the case in the interest of the state.
“My prayer is for the cancellation of the result of the election. But, further reevaluation, we decided to discontinue the case in the interest of peace and tranquility”, he said.
Counsel to the governor, who is the second respondent, Kunle Kalejaye (SAN) urged the tribunal to dismiss the case.
“The petitioner asked that the case be struck out. We want the base to be dismissed. It is a petition that is dead on arrival”, the counsel said.
The tribunal led then dismissed the case.
The tribunal then awarded N100,000 in favour of first respondent (Independent National Electoral Commission), N250,000 in favour of the second respondent (Makinde) and a N250,000 in favour of the third respondent (Peoples Democratic Party).
