Appeal court upholds Amosun’s victory

The court of appeal sitting in Ibadan on Thursday upheld the election of Ibikunle Amosun, governor of Ogun state.

The five-man panel headed by H.M Ogunjimiju, unanimously upheld Amosun’s victory and dismissed the appeal filed by Adegboyega Isiaka of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In its judgment in Abeokuta on October 23, the election tribunal ruled in favour of Amosun.

Dissatisfied, Isiaka approached the appellate court, seeking to annul the victory of his APC counterpart in the April 11 election.

However, Ogunjimiju held that Benjamin Ibikunle, the principal witness , PW9, for the appellant was not a credible witness, adding that his testimony could not be relied on by the court.

She said the evidence of PW9 was biased and could not be given any probative value because he informed the court that he was a member of PDP and could go to any length to ensure victory for his party.

The judge said the report of the witness was inconsistent and that there was no doubt that he did not take part in the inspection of the electoral materials.

Ogunjimiju said the witness indicated to the court that he was not an expert while his testimony indicated an opinion of an expert

She said the court could not give any probative value to the testimony of the witness because he was not an expert, maintaining that only an expert opinion could be given probative value by the court.

Ogunjimihu added that there was no place where the number of voters exceeded the number of those accredited and that the election complied with the provisions of the electoral act.

She said the appeal of the PDP candidate lacked merit and dismissed it while declaring Amosun as the winner of the poll.