Osun election petition: Parties insist on pre-trial conference

Tunde Oyekola, Osogbo - 03.06.2009

THE election petitions tribunal has fixed June 11 and 12 for the pre-trial session in the retrial of an election petition instituted against the 2007 governorship election victory of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State by the Action Congress (AC) candidate, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola.

The tribunal, headed by Justice Garba Ali, fixed the date on Tuesday after counsel to all parties insisted that pre-trial conference must hold in the case. Lead counsel to Aregbesola, Mr. Ebun Sofunde (SAN), had informed the tribunal that his client had filed three applications to call additional witnesses while counsel to Governor Oyinlola and INEC, Yusuf Ali (SAN), and Joe Gadzama (SAN), respectively also informed the tribunal that they had also filed an application each seeking the striking out of names of some respondents described as non juristic.?

The applications filed by Governor Oyinlola and INEC are seeking the order of the tribunal to strike out the names of presiding officers who were sued as a group by Aregbesola.

It was the contention of the two parties in the case that the law only allowed for the listing of each presiding officer as a respondent while it forbade the grouping of such officers as respondents.

They argued further that as listed by Aregbesola in his petition, such officers do not exist and therefore could not sue or be sued.

Citing several decided cases to support their case, the two counsel in the applications, further urged the tribunal to strike out all paragraphs in the petition that have bearings on the respondents whose names are being sought to be struck out.