ABEOKUTA – The factional Secretary of Labour Party in Ogun State, Comrade Oginni Sunday Olaposi has appealed the governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Ogun State to stay of proceedings on the petition filed by State Chairman of the party, Comrade Abayomi Arabambi until the outcome of his Appeal at the Court of Appeal, Ibadan.
Oginni in a written address filed by his solicitor, Kehinde Ayanwale argued that, the appeal was basically challenging the ruling of the Tribunal excluding the his client from the election tribunal having shown in the petition EPT/OG/GOV/02/2019.
Oginni had last week rejected the dismissal of his petition challenging the outcome of the March 9 governorship election in the state by the election petition tribunal.
Oginni in a petition marked EPT/OG/GOV/02/2019 had earlier urged the election petition tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital to nullify the election that saw Prince Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship poll over unlawful exclusion of its party logo on the ballot papers.
But Justice Chinwe Onyeabor led panel on April 9th dismissed the petition filed by Oginni Olaposi, citing incompetence and abuse of process as reasons for the dismissal.
The tribunal ruled on abuse of process between Olaposi’s faction’s petition and the other petition EPT/OG/GOV/03/2019, filed by Abayomi Arabambi as the chairman of Labour Party and the governorship candidate, Mrs. Modupe Sanyaolu.
However, Oginni in an appeal filed on same April 9th at the Appeal Court, Ibadan argued that the election petition tribunal sitting in Abeokuta ought not to have dismissed his petition marked EPT/OG/GOV/02/2019 having already complied with the issue of security fee which was partly paid at the time of filing the petition and subsequently paid same by the direction of court even before the issue was raised by Abayomi Arabambi in the petition EPT/OG/GOV/03/2019.
He further explained that, the tribunal should have strike out or dismiss the LP Chairman’s petition number EPT/OG/GOV/03/2019 having filed after a subsisting petition, stressing that the tribunal constituted abuse of court process which was liable to be dismissed with substantial cost.
But in his written address, Oginni urged the Tribunal to grant his prayer for stay of proceedings pending the determination of the Appeal at the Appeal Court in Ibadan.
“The application herein is the petitioner in PETITION NO: EPT/OG/GOV/02/2019 initiated by him against the Respondentsbin the herein suit which was later consolidated with PETITION NO: EPT/OG/GOV/03/2019.
“Ruling was however delivered on the 9th day of April, 2019 wherein Petition no: EPT/OG/GOV/02/2019 was dismissed and Petition no: EPT/OG/GOV/03/2019 was upheld.
“The learned Counsel to the Petitioner in Petition no: EPT/OG/GOV/02/2019 has now filed an application to appeal against the said ruling delivered on 9th day of April, 2019.
“The grant of this application will not only serve the course of justice but will also avert a miscarriage of justice as its refusal will mean that the Applicant in Petition no: EPT/OG/GOV/02/2019 will be totally shut out from the Tribunal without first allowing him to determine through the Appeal Court the merit of demerit of his case before the court of Appeal.
“I humbly submit to the Honourable Tribunal, that the Applicant discloses that its grounds of appeal are substantial and as such they are sufficient to support an order for stay of proceedings.
“I therefore, pray your Lordship to grant the Applicant’s prayer for stay of proceedings pending the determination of the appeal”.
