IBADAN-THE National and House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Oyo State yesterday in Ibadan, nullified  the election of Mr. Rabiu Adesola, a member of the PDP in the Oyo State House of Assembly, declaring the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, winner.

The tribunal nullified the election of Adesola in its judgement in a petition filed by Mr. Yisau Azeez of the ACN in respect of the Orelope State Constituency in the state.

Azeez in his petition had alleged that the return of Adesola during the April polls was invalid due to corrupt practices and non-compliance with the provisions of the electoral Act 2010 as amended.

The petitioner alleged further that Adesola, the first respondent in the petition, was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast during election into the Oyo State House of Assembly on April 26 this year.

The tribunal, in its judgement read by the Chairman, Justice Frank Nwize, after considering the evidence and exhibits tendered at the election, nullified the results of three polling units out of the six complained of by the petitioner.

The tribunal nullified the results of ward two unit two, ward three unit three and ward 10 unit one, in the constituency on the ground that they were fraught with fraud, irregularities and that the petitioner had established a clear case of irregularities and non-compliance with the provision of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

The tribunal, however, held that the petitioner failed to prove an allegation of irregularities in three other polling units namely: ward one unit four, ward 10 unit nine and ward 10 unit 12.

After subtracting the 523 votes from 6484 votes recorded for PDP, the 284 votes from 6335 votes recorded for ACN, the petitioner scored 6051 votes as against 5961 votes scored Adesola.

Consequently, the tribunal set aside the election of Adesola and declared Azeez winner, having scored the highest number of lawful votes in the constituency.