Aregbesola: A Court throws out Omisore’s appeal- see what happens.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure has upheld the decision of the lower tribunal, dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic
Party’s candidate in the August 9, 2014 governorship
election in Osun State, Iyiola Omisore.
The court, on Thursday, accepted the defence of Governor
Rauf Aregebsola of the All Progressives Congress that
Omisore’s petition ought to have been dismissed as an
abandoned petition in the first instance by the State
Election Petition Tribunal before hearing by the Justice
Elizabeth Ikpejime-led tribunal.
The Justice Gana Mshelia-led Appeal Court, in a unanimous
decision, dismissed Omisore’s appeal for incompetence,
stressing that the grounds of the appeal did not arise from
the judgment of the tribunal.
In determining the appeal, the court adopted the seven
issues raised by the appellants and upheld the preliminary
objections by Aregbesola and the APC’s counsel, while
resolving the issues against the appellant.
Referring to the Tribunal’s judgment, the Appeal Court
noted that the decision of the tribunal was that
Aregbesola’s counsel did not make any admission, and held
that Omisore failed to appeal this specific decision of the
tribunal.
The Court of Appeal further held that the evidential burden
on the appellant to prove his case would only shift to the
respondent, if the appellant had put forward cogent,
credible and reliable evidence of non- compliance, which the
appellant had failed to do in the appeal.
It also resolved that contrary to the complaint of the
appellants, the tribunal applied standard of proof on
preponderance of evidence in relation to allegation of non-
compliance and malpractices.
The court also upheld the cross-appeal filed by Aregbesola
when he dismissed the PDP and Omisore’s petition as
having been abandoned for failure to comply with the
requirement of filing pre-hearing notice within the stipulated
time under paragraph 18 of First Schedule to the Electoral
Act, 2010, as amended.
It however stated that the tribunal was wrong to have saved
the petition relying on paragraph 53(1) of the 1st Schedule
to the Electoral Act “because Paragraph 53(1) only applies
where the 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act does not provide
for the consequences of non-compliance with the rules.”
The Court of Appeal was convinced that paragraph 18(4)
expressly provided for consequences of failure to issue
application for pre-hearing notice.
Omisore has, however, vowed to appeal the dismissal.
Omisore, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the
telephone through his media aide, Mr. Victor Oriola, said he
was not going to let the alleged manipulation of the August
9, 2014 governorship election go without fighting it to the
very end.
He said, “We will go through the whole gamut of the legal
process. We believe we have a good case and we will pursue
it to the end.
“All the areas overlooked at the tribunal and the Appeal
Court will be visited by the Supreme Court.”
Reacting to the Court of Appeal’s verdict, the APC in Osun
State hailed the judgment, describing it as a confirmation of
the rejection of Omisore by the majority of the people of
the state.
The Director of Publicity of the APC in Osun State, Mr. Kunle
Oyatomi, said this in a statement in Osogbo on Thursday.
The statement read, “Even if Omisore decides to go as far as
the Supreme Court to plead his phantom victory at that
election, he will also fail, because the people’s will not to
elect him as the governor of the Osun State is emphatic.”
It will be recalled that Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime- led
Election Petitions Tribunal had on February 6th dismissed
Omisore’s petition against Aregbesola.
Not satisfied with the verdict of the lower tribunal, the
petitioner had filed an appeal against it to the Appeal Court
in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
But the appellate court also dismissed the PDP candidate’s
appeal.

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