The Legal team of the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP in the June eighteen governorship election in Ekiti State Chief Segun Oni says it has served a notice of disobedience to court order on the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti State, Dr. Adeniran Tella.
This according to the legal team was as a result of the continued refusal of INEC to obey the order granting SDP to inspect the election materials.
At a news conference in Ado-Ekiti, one of the SDP legal team, Mr. Owoseeni Ajayi said after several attempts, INEC gave them the date to inspect the materials, but on getting there, they were given a letter where it was stated that the counsel to the party should write a letter to the INEC headquarters for permission.
Mr. Owoseeni explained that since the legal team had been going to the INEC office in Ado-Ekiti, they had not been told that they would write any letter to Abuja, saying inspection of materials used in an election has never been done at the INEC headquarters.
He expressed surprise at the decision of the Resident Electoral Commissioner mandating them to write before they could have access to the materials, describing such as strange and unlawful.
“For instance the following day the Counsel to Governor Oyetola of Osun state obtained an order for inspection of election materials, the REC in the state promptly obeyed the order and the inspection is going on right now in Osogbo”.
He described the action of Dr Tella as impunity targeted at frustrating the Petitioner’s case and that such could derail democracy in Ekiti state.
Mr. Owoseeni noted that the continued refusal of INEC in the state for the party to inspect the materials prompted them to take legal action against Dr. Adeniran Tella, adding that a letter to report him had been sent to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
“The INEC has boasted to the whole world that Ekiti election is a model recommended for subsequent elections, what then are they hiding with their tortoise games”? Owoseeni Ajayi said.
Anthony Ojo
