Member representing Ado Odo-Ota Federal Constituency in the House Of Representatives, Jimoh Ojugbele, has dragged the immediate past Ogun State Commissioner for Forestry, Tunji Akinosi, before the Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, over the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the constituency.
Also dragged before the Court is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Tide source reports that the last APC primary held last month to produce candidate for the constituency ended in a fiasco on two occasions.
However, Akinosi’s name appeared as the candidate for the Ado Odo-Ota federal constituency in the list sent to the INEC by the leadership of APC.
Miffed by the development, the lawmaker dragged INEC and Akinosi before the court, insisting that he is the APC candidate for the constituency.
In a motion exparte filed before the court, the lawmaker is seeking the order of the court to restrain the APC and its agents from submitting the name of Akinosi as the candidate of the Party in the Federal Constituency pending the hearing and final determination of the claimant’s motion on notice.
Ojugbele is also seeking an interim order of the court restraining INEC and their agents from receiving Akinosi’s name as the candidate of the APC in Ado-Odo Ota, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
He also prayed the court for an interim injunction to abridge the time within which each defendants are to file their responses to the originating process from 30 days to 7 days.
The suit marked FHC/AB/CS/94/22 was filed on June 15, 2022.
In his affidavit in support of the motion, Ojugbele argued that a primary election was conducted on the 27th of May, 2022 in accordance with the electoral timetable and guideline by the National Working Committee of the APC.
He said further that the primaries was conducted in the presence of the INEC officials and other agents of the parties.
According to him, although there was an attempt to disrupt the election by some disgruntled elements and street urchins allegedly sponsored by another aspirant, the election was concluded and winner announced.
He further argued that the election result was declared in his favour by the assigned Returning Officer, Tunji Ibitokun, having scored 41 out of the 43 accredited delegates, adding that Akinosi came distance second with only two votes.
“The score as declared by the returning officer was inputted into the result sheet and same was duly signed by the returning officer, a copy of which was given to aspirants present at the Center and that signified the end of the exercise,” he said.
The lawmaker said a re-run election was conducted 48 hours after he had been declared winner, maintaining that the re-run though a nullity, was also conducted by an unauthorised persons without the presence of the NWC representative(s), INEC and other agents.
“We most humbly submit that our client was not heard neither was he given an opportunity to defend the election of 27th of May, 2022 before the purported re-run was birthed by interlopers who are ordinarily not saddled with the responsibility to do so.”
“We most respectively submit that the election of 29th of May, 2022 which was not monitored by officers of the INEC is a clear violation of the extant and same amounts to a Nullity.
“No Aspirant had challenged the outcome of the Election conducted on the 27th May, 2022 and therefore there was no basis to conduct a fresh election, a re-run election or Amy other election in any guise,” he added.