Ondo Election: Tribunal Grants Jegede Permission To Inspect Materials

The Ondo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has granted Mr Eyitayo Jegede permission to inspect the materials used for the poll.

A three-man panel of judges approved the request of Jegede – the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – at the resumed sitting on Tuesday in Akure, the state capital.

One of the counsels to the PDP candidate, Mr Jamiu Makinde, moved the motion which was granted by the judges.

The Tribunal, led by Justice Umar Abubakar, also granted an order for substituted service on the winner of the election and incumbent governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

On Friday last week, Jegede petitioned the Tribunal to challenge the victory of Governor Akeredolu in the October 10 governorship election.

He filed the petition based on four counts bordering on allegations that the election was marred by irregularities, pockets of violence, and intimidation of voters.

Also joined as defendants in the suit were the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the deputy governor-elect, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

Following the keenly contested poll, INEC had returned Governor Akeredolu and his running mate as the winner of the election.

The incumbent governor, who swept to victory by winning 15 of the 18 local governments, scored 292,830 of the total votes cast.

Jegede, on his part, polled 195,791 votes and was followed by the candidate of the Zenith Labour Party and incumbent deputy governor who had 69,127 votes.