The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which was held in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, has adjourned the hearing of the petition filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against Governor Seyi Makinde’s victory in the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state.
The adjournment came after the party requested to withdraw the case. Adegbenro Fagbemi, the chairman of the party in the state, expressed that the decision to withdraw the case was the best one, as the state executive members were unaware of the case and were kept in the dark by the national executive until it was filed.
Fagbemi explained that there was an executive override from the national headquarters to file the case without the involvement of the Oyo State executive, but they pressured the national secretary to withdraw the case for the sake of peace in the state.
Fagbemi himself had witnessed the election as the state collation agent and signed the election result that confirmed Governor Makinde’s victory. The lead counsel for Governor Makinde, Otunba Kunle Kalejaiye, criticized the case, deeming it unnecessary, frivolous, and a waste of time.
He highlighted the low number of votes obtained by the APM compared to Makinde’s significant victory, expressing his hope that the legislature would set a threshold for filing election petitions to prevent such cases from occurring in the future. Kalejaiye lamented the resources wasted on the case and called for appropriate action to be taken.
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