Confusion As Appeal Court Rules On Oyo Guber Poll

The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State on Monday gave a confusing judgement on a case filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adebayo Adelabu, challenging the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal in favour of the incumbent governor, Seyi Makinde, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The court therefore ordered that status quo of the outcome of the tribunal remain, which is the return and declaration of Makinde as winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship poll in Oyo State by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Appeal Court further said time was not on its side, hence, it would have ordered a re-trial at the lower court, but the 180 days set aside for tribunal had been exhausted. The five-man committee, which had four in attendance, further said the judgement of the lower court that dismissed Adelabu’s petition against Makinde’s election as the governor was perverse and therefore set the judgement aside. Three of the four-person panel of the Court of Appeal resolved all issues in the favour of the appellants. But there was a dissenting judgment from a judge with a provision that the panel could not nullify Makinde’s election.