Adebayo Adenrele
A faction of Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Monday opened its case before the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ado-Ekiti, alleging that its agents were prevented from performing their statutory roles during the just concluded June 20 gubernatorial poll in the state.
Speaking with journalists after the proceedings, the party’s presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo and legal representative of Action Alliance, said the party had presented seven witnesses before the tribunal and would continue to call more witnesses as the hearing progresses.
Adebayo said the evidence presented before the tribunal was aimed at establishing that the governorship election, which produced Governor Biodun Oyebanji of All Progressive Congress (APC) as winner, was not properly conducted and was characterised by alleged irregularities.
He said the party would rely on the judicial process to establish its allegations and allow the tribunal to determine the matter based on the evidence presented.
Adebayo also used the opportunity to reaffirm the SDP’s opposition to vote buying and alleged political inducement, saying the party was committed to pursuing its grievances through lawful means.
He added that the party would allow the tribunal to reach its decision after considering the evidence before it.
Reacting to heckling directed at him by some persons within the court premises, Adebayo described the incident as part of the democratic process, while urging political leaders to make themselves accessible to Nigerians, adding that such individuals were not members of the SDP.
His words, “The situation in the court was normal. The SDP opened its case today and we were able to lay before the court the fact that at the election, our agents were not allowed to play their role and that the election was not properly done.
“We are waiting for the court to evaluate the evidence. We led seven witnesses today and we will be leading more from tomorrow. We will be coming from time to time because the Social Democratic Party does not endorse any election that is rigged or full of malpractices.
“Politics is done for hungry people who have no profession and we are following the law. We are following the law and we are doing it so that you can know that the SDP is against vote buying. SDP doesn’t sell its candidates. SDP is not those who go and sell out.
“For those trying to throw banter at me in court today, it’s a democracy. This is what Tinubu cannot do. You can see me walking on the street. This is what I expect Tinubu to do. Come out in public, let Nigerians talk to you. It’s quite a democracy.
“Those people are not our members. It’s a freedom of speech, but they are not our members. Go and get the list”.
However, the Ekiti State Chairman of the SDP, Ayodele Bamikole, distanced the party from Adebayo and challenged his claim to be acting on behalf of the party in the tribunal.
Bamikole said the party had a duly elected governorship candidate for the election and described the presence of people he said were not members of the party as representatives of the SDP in the legal proceedings as unacceptable.
The parry chairman also questioned Adebayo’s political identity within the SDP, alleging that he was from Ondo State and had no mandate to represent the party in the Ekiti governorship election petition.
“During the governorship election, the party came together. We had the governorship candidate duly elected at the primaries and today, it is funny to us seeing people that are not members of our party showing up in the court, standing to represent our party and telling the court that they are instituting a case against Governor Oyebanji.
“This was the first election which we had the highest vote scored in the history of governorship election in Ekiti. It means all came together to vote for Biodun Oyebanji.
“It’s funny to us seeing people from Ondo State, Prince Adewole Adebayo, who claims to be a self-acclaimed presidential candidate of the party, coming to Ekiti State today to institute a case against Oyebanji and also standing in representing Action Alliance, a presidential candidate of a party, representing another party in the court.
“So, it is more of an insolence to the party. It’s a disgrace to us. We didn’t expect somebody like him and he cannot be our candidate”. Bankole added
