BREAKING: Ekiti Tribunal upholds Governor Oyebanji’s election

The Ekiti State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ado Ekiti has upheld the victory of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Biodun Oyebanji, in the June governorship election in the state.

Oyebanji had polled a total of 187,057 votes to defeat his two closest challengers – Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bisi Kolawole of the People’s Democratic Party. The SDP emerged in second place with total votes of 82,211 while the PDP was third with 67,457 votes.

Unsatisfied with the outcome of the election, SDP’s 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 hinged 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.