For allegedly evading efforts by bailiff to serve Senator Ademola Adeleke with the Osun governorship election petition, the state Election Petition Tribunal has granted the application of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola who applied for substituted service on the governor-elect.
Governor Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC) had challenged the outcome of the July 16 governorship election in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adeleke as the winner.
At the sitting of the tribunal presided by Justices Tertsea Aorga Kume, and Benedict Amangbo Ogbuli as secretary, Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress, through their counsel, Mr. Yomi Aliyu, said Adeleke has been evading efforts by bailiff to serve him with the petition.
According to the counsel, the first and the third respondents, INEC and PDP have been served but Adeleke refused to collect the document from bailiff when the court official got to his house to serve him.
“The bailiff was kept at the gate to wait for instruction to drop the message but the security guard later ordered the bailiff to leave as there was no instruction to collect the document and he had to leave the scene for his safety”, he added.
Aliyu also in an oral application on behalf of the petitioners, also sought an order of the tribunal to order INEC to allow it access to the election materials, including scanning of ballot papers used for the election among others.
Ruling on the applications, tribunal chairman, Justice Tertsea Aorga Kume granted the motion ex-parte brought before it by allowing the bailiff to paste a copy of the document on the tribunal notice board for the 2nd respondent’s attention.
