Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal yesterday berated Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its counsel over what it described as lack of diligence in the prosecution of its petition challenging the victory of Governor Biodun Oyebanji in the June 20 governorship election.

The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Abubakar Kutigi, expressed displeasure about the inability of the petitioner’s counsel, Ebenezer Akingbule, who represented the lead counsel, Adebayo Adewole, to present witnesses for the continuation of the trial.

The tribunal said it would no longer tolerate unnecessary delays, urging the petitioner’s counsel to put his house in order and prosecute the case within the time available to it.

Justice Kutigi, who granted a one-day adjournment sought by Akingbule, ordered the petitioner to produce its witnesses today.

The judge said: “We can’t continue to indulge you or allow you to tender apology over flimsy excuses. You can’t continue to waste the time of the court here. Why are you behaving as if you are not ready for this case?

“Any serious legal practitioner must have put his house in order. You don’t know the volume and even the serial number of exhibits and witnesses. We are not going to indulge you again.

“Do you think we are here to play? You are deliberately wasting our time because you know that your witnesses are not around.”

Justice Kutigi advised the petitioner to close its case within a reasonable time if it could no longer produce its witnesses, warning that continued procrastination could impede the speedy determination of the petition.

The judge said: “If you know you can’t get witnesses, then close your case within reasonable time, so that you won’t waste our time.”

Akingbule, who apologised to the tribunal, said the petitioner had 11 witnesses to call, but that they were unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances.

He pleaded for a short adjournment to enable him assemble the witnesses, saying the situation had been complicated by the internal crisis rocking the SDP.

He said: “I was with the witnesses till around 1am this morning. I want you to indulge me till Wednesday, so that I can assemble them. I was only caught in the web of this SDP internal crisis. Please, give me a day’s adjournment to be able to do the proper thing.”

The counsel also sought a short adjournment in another petition filed by the Action Alliance to enable him present witnesses in line with the pre-hearing orders.

Earlier, counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and first respondent, Suleiman Ibrahim, described the petitioner’s approach to the trial as disturbing.

Ibrahim urged the tribunal to compel the petitioner to produce its witnesses, arguing that it had breached the pre-hearing orders relating to the presentation and service of the list of witnesses.

“I don’t think they are ready for this matter. They have flouted the pre-hearing orders that witnesses must be brought to court as ordered. They are not keeping to this promise.

“The petitioner had breached the schedules of witnesses because it was supposed to be within 24 hours. If he serves us today about those to be called tomorrow, it will still not be up to the 24 hours as required by the Electoral Act,” he said.

He urged the tribunal to invoke its powers and order the petitioner to close its case in order to save the court’s time.

Counsel for Governor Oyebanji, Adetunji Oso, aligned himself with the position of the INEC lawyer, saying the petitioner could not continue to take the tribunal for granted.

Oso accused the petitioner of failing to comply with an order concerning its address within the jurisdiction.

He said the internal crisis in the SDP had also affected the prosecution of the petition, referring to the incident on Monday when some party members allegedly accused the petitioner’s counsel of bringing “impostors” to court as witnesses.

Oso said: “They displayed that they have internal crisis here yesterday. Some SDP members were chanting and accusing the counsel for the petitioner of bringing impostors to the tribunal as witnesses. We have the video; we can play it here.

“They should blame their poor performance on internal crisis, instead of blaming the state government. We are not objecting to his adjournment, but he has just six weeks to prosecute his case and there may not be any extension of time.”

The SDP and its first petitioner are challenging the victory of Oyebanji, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, in the June 20 governorship election, alleging that the conduct of the poll did not substantially comply with the Electoral Act, 2026.

The development came a day after the SDP’s governorship candidate and second petitioner, Isaac Alade, withdrew his petition at the tribunal.

The tribunal consequently struck out Alade’s petition, leaving the SDP to continue with the remaining petition. (The Nation)