The Lagos State
Independent Electoral Commission had declared the candidate of the
Action Congress of
Nigeria, Mr. Adewale Adeniji, as the winner of the
election conducted on October 22, 2011.
However, the five-man
tribunal, presided over by retired Justice Dolapo Akinsanya, while
delivering judgment on the petition filed by Obanikoro challenging
Adeniji’s victory on Thursday, held that the PDP polled the highest
number of valid votes in the election.
The tribunal nullified Adeniji’s election and ordered LASIEC to revoke the Certificate of Return issued to him.
Obanikoro, son of former
Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Musiliu Obanikoro, was said to
have scored 6,780 valid votes while Adeniji scored 6,248 votes.
According to the
tribunal, the petitioners- Obanikoro and the PDP – were able to prove
that the election results were not collated at the polling units.
Akinsanya said, “Section
11(2) of the Local Government Elections Petitions Tribunal Law 2011
empowers this tribunal to nullify any election that does not comply with
the laid down regulations.
“The petitioners have been able to discharge the burden of proof vested on them as regards the collation of results.
“The petitioners have
shown that the non-collation of the results at the units and ward level
substantially affected the outcome of the result declared by LASIEC.
“We order LASIEC to issue a Certificate of Return to the petitioners with immediate effect having won the disputed election.”
The tribunal also awarded N100,000 as cost against the respondents in favour of the petitioners.
Obanikoro had, in his
petition, asked the tribunal to upturn the election on the grounds that
the results were not collated at the ward and local government levels
but were only declared at the LASIEC’s headquarters.
Such procedure adopted by the LASIEC was said to be contrary to relevant provisions of the electoral rules.
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