The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Thursday, struck out the petition filed by the candidate of Labour Party (LP) against the House of Representatives member-elect, Hon. Donald Ojogo, on the February 25 general election in the Ilaje/ Ese-Odo Federal Constituency.
The LP candidate, Tunji Balogun, has petitioned the Tribunal, challenging the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Ojogo, who won the March 18 poll over the omission of the party logo from the ballot by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Dismissing the petition, the Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Rose Soji, said the petition was struck out following an earlier application by LP and its candidate, Balogun, to discontinue the case.
The LP had petitioned the tribunal, claiming that its candidate was prevented from participating in the election after the logo of the party was excluded from the ballot.
The LP and its candidate, Balogun prayed the tribunal to order INEC to conduct a fresh election in the federal constituency and include him as a candidate.
Counsel to APC, Yinka Orokoto, while speaking on the decision of the tribunal to dismiss the petition, said “they (LP) went to the tribunal claiming they were wrongfully excluded from the election and that they did not have their logo on the ballot. Their initial prayer was that INEC should conduct a fresh election with him (Balogun) as a candidate.
“It was on the basis of the fact that on October 27, LP submitted its list of candidates, which included his own, to INEC. But INEC told them that the time in which to submit the list of candidates had lapsed because INEC had their own timetable.
“The Labour Party candidate brought an application to withdraw the case, but on our own part, we insisted that the case should continue. After listening to both parties, the tribunal, in its own wisdom, dismissed the case. We are happy they submitted the application.
“We are happy about the ruling of the tribunal because it is the right thing to do. We don’t think they have a case, but rather than go through the whole stress.
“They think it is wise and the best thing to do, and we think it is the best thing in this circumstance, so we are good with it.”
In his reaction, Ojogo said “The judgement is merely an enhancer for me to brace up for the challenges ahead. Nothing comes easy and whatever comes one’s way can only be an act of God.
“Therefore, it is for us to utilise every such opportunity. This is one such opportunity. I’m grateful to God for the development especially as it is coming a few days to my inauguration in the National Assembly.
“I’m a product of divine arrangement whose election could only have been made possible by God; the first Ijaw man to represent a predominantly Yoruba-dominated Federal Constituency. So this is a privilege not to be taken for granted.
“Someone amongst them felt hurt, not by the outcome, but by reason of election preparations by election organisers. So, the only appeal I will make is to urge all, including those who had reasons not to support me to now give a helping hand so that we can collectively succeed. I hope and I’m almost convinced this ends the legal tussle. We can only get stronger when we are together.”
It will be recalled that Ojogo, the immediate past Commissioner for Information and Orientation in the state, was declared the winner of the federal constituency seat by INEC after polling 26,306 votes to defeat the PDP candidate in the election who polled 22,390 votes.
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