Ekiti Tribunal set to deliver Judgement on Thursday

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The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ado the Ekiti State capital will on Thursday deliver its judgement on the matter.

Even though the notice has heightened anxiety in various quarters, parties involved in the suit confirmed the tribunal communicated the date to them on Wednesday.

The Electoral Act’s 180-day deadline for hearing the petition is set to expire on January 2, 2023.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) Governorship candidate, former Governor  Segun Oni, had on July 7 filed a petition at the tribunal challenging the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, by the Independent National Electoral Commission as the winner of the election.

He is hinging his case on alleged election rigging by voter inducement and bypass of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) at some polling stations; the authenticity of the WAEC certificate presented by the Deputy Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Monisade Afuye among other grounds.

The three-man election petitions tribunal headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi had on November 23 adjourned indefinitely for judgment after parties in the petition adopted their final written addresses.