The Ekiti Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Ado Ekiti, on Monday, dismissed the application brought before it by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) seeking to evade invitation of its witnesses.
The Tribunal made it clear that the days when technicalities overrode justice were gone for good.
The tribunal ruled that the days of hiding under technicalities to trample on matters of justice were gone for good, adding that “the court today is on the side of Justice.”
Justice Zaad I Zadawa, who read the unanimous decision of the tribunal, resolved the issuance of subpoena against the INEC and awarded a fine of five hundred thousand naira against the electoral body.
It would be recalled that the INEC counsel, Prince Chris Onwugbonor, had earlier filed a 14-page application to evade the invitation of its witnesses after the body refused to obey the order of the tribunal for the petitioner to inspect election materials as well as enter its witnesses in the court process.
Against the backdrop, the tribunal at its sitting, on Tuesday, decided against INEC on all the ground sought, hence the award of a N500, 000 fine which the lawyer to the petitioner, Mr Owoseni Ajayi, had asked for as damages.
INEC had earlier relied on a point of law, but Owoseni countered it, describing the motion as abnormal and contentious, the worst he had ever seen in his handling of petition cases.
He concluded that it was disobedience of the existing rule of the tribunal and asked the tribunal to dismiss it because it had nothing to do with the merit of the case.
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