TheCable

The Ekiti governorship election petition tribunal has granted permission to Segun Oni, candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), to inspect materials used during the poll.

Biodun Oyebanji, former secretary to the state government (SSG), was declared the winner of the election after winning 15 out of the 16 LGAs in the state.

Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 187,057 votes, defeating Oni who polled 82,211 votes, and Bisi Kolawole of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who got 67,457 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome of the June 18 governorship poll, Oni filed a petition against Oyebanji and the APC before a three-member tribunal chaired by Wilfred Kpochi.

The tribunal had its inaugural sitting on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti capital.

Other members of the tribunal panel are Sa’ad  Zadawa and Jacob Atsen, while other respondents in the case are INEC, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the APC chairman.

In an ex-parte motion, Oni sought the leave of the tribunal to grant an order permitting him or his agents to conduct manual/physical inspection of all electoral materials used in the conduct of the governorship election.

In a ruling, the tribunal found the application meritorious and consequently ordered INEC to give unhindered access to the petitioner to inspect the electoral materials.

The materials include the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS), ballot papers, and voters’ register.