Etteh wins at tribunal

01.06.2008

THE Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, Osun State on Saturday dismissed a petition seeking the nullification of the election of Hon Patricia Olubunmi Etteh as a member of the House of Representatives from the State.

In a unanimous judgement read by Justice A. T. Badamosi, the tribunal said Etteh's challenger, Alhaja Ayo Omidiran failed to prove her case with credible evidence.

The tribunal noted that Omidiran called witnesses who dubbed themselves "ward supoervisors" and who testified to the fact that they did not stay permanently in any polling unit during the election.

The panel wondered why the AC candidate failed to call a single polling agent who witnessed the elections in their units and were lawfully entitiled to stay at polling stations.

It was further held by the tribunal that all allegations raised in the petition against Etteh's election bordered on criminality and the standard of proof was that of proof beyond all reasonable doubts.

It noted further that the Omidiran's evidence, in most instances, were at variance with the pleadings in her petition delaring that this affected the documents she tendered and which were commented on by her counsel without regard to what she pleaded.

" It is settled in law that parties are bound by their pleadings. Facts not pleaded goes to no issue and evidence led on such facts is also of no moment as nothing can be placed on nothing.Counsel's submissions, no matter how brilliant cannot take the place of pleadings,"the tribunal declared.

The tribunal also discountenced documents tendered by the AC candidate through her lawyer declaring that she did not specifically tie them to her case through calling of witnesses to give e3vidence on them apart from the fact that her lawyers comments in his final address were not pleaded in the petition.

Another petition filed by the AC candidate in Ayedaade state constituency, Oyebade Abayo, against the election of Olufemi Faronbi of the PDP was similarly dismissed by the tribunal which held that he failed to prove his case.