Sitting will continue on Monday, September 24, at the Akpo High Court judicial division, in Abuja
The Ekiti State governorship election tribunal will now be sitting in Abuja, following a petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asking for its relocation .
Adebayo Adelodun (SAN), counsel to the PDP, had argued that the state was unsafe for the sitting.
In his application on Monday, Adelodun had said: “My Lord, on our way to the tribunal, we were accosted by some crowds with sticks. We were on a spot for several minutes until a senior police officer came to us.[story_link align="left"]62978[/story_link]
“We have to be safe first; in life, safety comes first. We are professionals and we move around to do our job. Sir, we hereby request that this sitting should be shifted to another venue, probably Abuja because of safety.”
Thereafter, Suleiman Belgore, Chairman of the Ekiti State Governorship Petition Tribunal, had announced the relocation of the tribunal out of the state, stating that the new venue for sitting would be disclosed within 48 hours.
Professor Kolapo Olusola Eleka, candidate of the PDP in the July 14 Ekiti State governorship election, filed a 700-page petition before the Election Tribunal, then sitting in Ado, to challenge the victory awarded to Dr. Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Fayemi had polled a total of 197, 459 votes while Eleka had 178,121 votes, the margin being 19, 338.
But Eleka told the tribunal that Fayemi "stole his mandate", hence his decision to file the petition. He explained that the petition filed before the tribunal contained “empirical evidence” showing that figures were falsified in favour of Fayemi.