The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed confidence that Monday judgment of the Elections Petitions Tribunal which affirmed the victory of Gov. Kayode Fayemi at the July 14, 2018 Ekiti governorship election would be overturned at the Court of Appeal.
The party said this in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Monday in Abuja, in reaction to the Election Petition Tribunal judgment that affirmed the victory of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gov. Kayode Fayemi at the poll.
Ologbondiyan expressed confidence that victory would be handed to the PDP and its candidate, Olusola Eleka, whom he described as the clear winner of the election.
He urged all members of the party, particularly those in Ekiti State, not to despair over the judgment.
“The PDP holds that the Court of Appeal will consider the matter strictly on its merit, particularly with the abounding evidence of rigging including violence, vote-buying, ballot stuffing and alteration of results perpetuated by the APC are still intact.
“The PDP notes that the entire nation and the international community had widely condemned the manipulation that marred the Ekiti governorship election and strongly believes that justice will be served at the end of the day.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three-man panel, in a unanimous judgment in Abuja, dismissed the suit filed by the PDP and its candidate, Eleka.
The tribunal held that the various allegations raised by the petitioners were not proved as required by law, adding that worthless documents were dumped on the tribunal.
The Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Suleiman Bolaji Belgore, said that contrary to the claims of the petitioners, Fayemi was duly and lawfully returned as winner of majority votes by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). (NAN)