Fayose wants Tribunal to throw out APC’s petition

Governor-elect of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has asked the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to throw out the petition initiated by the All Progressives Congress against his June 21 governorship election victory for non-joinder and mis-joinder of parties in the case.

Ayodele Fayose

Fayose stated this in his  preliminary objection by the lead counsel, Yusuf Ali (SAN) and filed on Wednesday through the Peoples Democratic Party’s Legal Adviser in Ekiti, Mr. Kolapo Kolade, before the three-man panel chaired by Justice Muhammad Sirajo.

Contrary to the petition of the APC, Fayose who won the election on the platform of PDP said he was fit and competent to contest the election, and also won convincingly.

The PDP has lined up 35 witnesses to prove its case.

Kolade in an interview with journalists said “The APC is claiming that Fayose did not score the highest number of votes and that his election should be nullified and Governor Kayode Fayemi, who was not joined as a petitioner should be declared winner. This is a case of non-joinder.

“Then what is the reason behind the joining of the Chief of Defence Staff as a respondent in this case?  Because Military did not partake in the electoral process and this is a clear case of mis-joinder.”

The party also argued that some of the issues raised by the APC, particularly the contention over the Higher National Diploma Certificate paraded by Fayose, was contrary to the principle of estoppels.

The PDP also described as vaguely and mere academic exercise, the APC’s claim that the election was rigged via what it termed ‘photo and thermochromic’ electronic device, saying such “is unknown to electoral Law”.

It averred that controversy surrounding Fayose’s  HND Certificate acquired from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State, had been settled by Appeal Court , in the case of Alliance for Democracy Vs. Fayose in 2003 and had been gazetted  in the Court records.