Lagos West: Adebule wins at tribunal

<p>The National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Lagos has dismissed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s petition seeking to nullify the victory of Senator Adebule Idiat Oluranti in the February 25 senatorial election.</p>, <p>A three-man panel of the tribunal in a unanimous decision upheld Oluranti’s argument that the 1st and 2nd petitioners – Segun Adewale and the PDP – abandoned their petition.</p>, <p>The panel comprised Justice Ashua Ewah (Chairman), Justice Abdullahi Ozegya and Justice M. A. Sambo.</p>, <p>Adewale, popularly known as Aero, was the PDP’s candidate in the election, while Adebule, a former Lagos State Deputy Governor, is of the All Progressives Congress (APC).</p>, <p>Adebule polled 361,296 votes to defeat Adewale, who got 248,653 votes.</p>, <p>Dissatisfied, Adewale and his party approached the tribunal with a petition marked EPT/LAG/SEN/04/2023, seeking to reverse Adebule’s victory as affirmed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).</p>, <p>He listed Adebule, APC and INEC as the 1st to 3rd respondents.</p>, <p>But opposing them, 1st respondent Adebule, through her team of counsel, Bolu Agbaje Akadri with Adetokunbo Davies and Chidiogor Ozokwelu, prayed for “an order deeming this petition as abandoned against all the respondents and striking it out in limine.”</p>, <p>Adebule, through her counsel, raised seven grounds for her application. They are that: “By virtue of Paragraph 18 (1) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended), the petitioners are mandated to within seven days alter the filing and service of the respondent’s reply apply for the issuance of pre-hearing notice in Form TF 007.</p>, <p>“The applicant herein filed its reply to the petition on May 5, 2023. “In response to the applicant’s reply, the petitioners filed their reply on May 10, 2023 and contemporaneously issued prehearing notice TF007 on the same day. “The petitioners’ reply was not served on the Applicant until May 25, 202