Posted by By UCHE USIM on
In his reaction, Barrister Tunde Odanye, the Osun State gubernatorial candidate of the Alliance for Democracy [AD] in the last year's polls, however submitted that the justices of the Court of Appeal based their judgment on the evidence before them.
In his reaction, Barrister Tunde Odanye, the Osun State gubernatorial candidate of the Alliance for Democracy [AD] in the last year's polls, however submitted that the justices of the Court of Appeal based their judgment on the evidence before them. He told Saturday Sun that ‘the law is about facts you tender before the courts, as well as guiding principle of law, not sentiments.'
‘To say that the honourable justices made a recourse to technicalities is absolute bunkum. Anybody following the proceedings should have known the result. The law is about what you tender before the courts in evidence as well as guiding principle of law. Now, the truth of the matter is that in some areas of law, the law is tilted in favour of of the defendants, whereby the onus of proof is on the part of the plaintiff.
Such areas include, the criminal law, election petition and some other areas. In election petition, you just have to establish proof of allegations. After that, you show that the defendants benefitted from it. You must also show that the respondents is involved that there is complicity on his part. You must be able to convince the Court that he benefitted from it and that it later affected , substantially, the outcome of the election .
Speaking further, Odanye dismissed Saturday Sun inqusition that INEC admission that the ballot papers were not serialised was a fundmental breach of the Electoral Act.
‘No, I disagree with you. That the ballot papers have no serial numbers doesn't mean that Atiku didn't vote; or that the Action Congress loyalists didn't come out to vote . Look, the law says it must be substantial'.
Odanye equally did not share the speculation that the judges were induced-- that the recommendation of Justice Ogebe, for elevation to the Supreme Court was an inducement.
'Did they promote all the other judges, sitting on the panel? Should the judge have been denied elevation, because of an onerous assignment of election petition,? Odanye demanded.