Lawyer Accuses INEC Of Illegally Declaring Abiodun Ogun Governor

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been accused of illegally declaring Dapo Abiodun as the duly elected governor of Ogun State.

Dapo Abiodun is the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in the 2023 gubernatorial election in Ogun State.

A lawyer, Festus Ogun made this known on his Official Twitter handle on Sunday shortly after the INEC’s Returning officer, Professor Kayode Adebowale announced Abiodun as the one who polled the highest votes in the just concluded election and subsequently declared him the winner.

Ogun in his post said the declaration was not in compliance with the provision 24(2),(3),(4) and (5) of the Electoral Act, 2022, given that the total number of registered voters in the “cancelled” areas is substantial to the slim margin between Abiodun and his contender, PDP’s Ladi Adebutu.

“INEC should declare the election inconclusive and order a rerun at affected polling units at an early date.

“By section 24(3), the determinant factor of 'substantial disruption' is a question of fact which shall be determined by the number of registered voters in the cancelled areas vis-a-vis the margin between the 'winner' and runner-up.

“In simple terms, since the number of registered voters in the cancelled areas are so substantial that they outweigh the slim margin between the 'winner' and 'runner up', a winner cannot be announced but a rerun.

“INEC’s declaration of DAPO Abiodun is therefore in gross violation of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."

According to INEC, Abiodun polled 276,298 votes while Adebutu scored a total of 262,383 votes.

The duo were trailed behind by Africa Democratic Party’s Biyi Otegbeye who polled a total of 94,754 votes.

The PDP has also petitioned INEC asking them to withhold the election result while a rerun is conducted.

The returning officer at the Abeokuta collation centre claimed that the announcement could still go on while the agency reviews its decision in seven days.