Appeal Court upholds Ajimobi’s victory

The Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan on Thursday upheld the victory of Gov.Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and dismissed an appeal filed by Sen. Rasidi Ladoja of Accord Party.

Ladoja and his party had challenged the judgment of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal delivered on Oct. 27 in Ibadan.

The three-man tribunal headed by Justice Muhammed Mayaki had declared Ajimobi of APC the winner of the election.

The five-man panel of the Court of Appeal headed by Justice H.M Ogunjimiju, however, unanimously upheld the victory of Ajimobi in the April 11 governorship election in Oyo State.

Ogunjimiju said that the tribunal was right in not attributing any probative value to the evidence of Mr Bimbo Adepoju, Principal Witness (PW1) of the appellant, because he was a farmer.

She said that a farmer could not give an expert opinion and his testimony could not be relied on.

The totality of the evidence of the appellant, she added, rested solely on Adepoju who was a member of the APC.

The judge said that Adepoju informed the court that he could go to any length to ensure victory for his party.

She said that the evidence of Adepoju was biased and inconsistent because he was not an expert.

Ogunjimiju said that the exhibits tendered by the appellant were merely dumped in the court as no explanation was made.

The appeal, he said, lacked merit and was dismissed.

In his reaction, Mr Aderemi Adegbora, the Counsel to Accord Party, said his client would head for the Supreme Court .

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Mr Wole Aina, the counsel to APC, however, commended the court over the judgment.