JUST IN: Why I’m challenging Oyebanji’s victory at tribunal – Oni

The candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the June 18 governorship election in Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni, Thursday evening, filed a 1,095-page petition before the Ekiti State Election Petition Tribunal.

Oni said he was challenging the election outcome at the tribunal in view of the fact that he allegedly defeated the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Biodun Oyebanji, who was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

INEC had said Oyebanji of the APC came first in the election having polled 187,057 votes against Oni of the SDP who scored 82,209 votes to come second among the 16 candidates that participated in the election.

Oni, who spoke to journalists at the tribunal shortly after his legal team submitted the petition, said, “I’m here to submit my petition in accordance with the law and we are doing this to defend the sanctity of the system. I am challenging the election result because I believe that I won.”

The SDP candidate had told The PUNCH last week that he could not congratulate Oyebanji because he did not believe the person declared governor-elect won the June I8 election.

Oni’s lawyer, Obafemi Adewale, SAN, who said there was more to the election, said, “If my client had believed the governorship election was free, fair, and credible, he would not have challenged the outcome.”

Adewale said that his client also believed that “the person declared by INEC as the winner did not win with lawful votes.”