The winner
of the May 12 primary elections of the Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN) in Ekiti
State, Dr. Sunday Balogun, has filed a suit against the adopted candidate,
Chief Adebisi Omoyeni.
In the
Originating Summons filed before a Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, on Monday,
Balogun prayed the court to remove the name of Omoyeni on the grounds that he
(Omoyeni) did not emerge from the primary conducted by the MPN.
Defendants
in the suit are MPN, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Omoyeni
and eight others. Balogun said he was in court to challenge the alleged
injustice done to him.
The
plaintiff averred that the substitution of his name with that of Omoyeni, a
former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, violates Section 33 of the Electoral Act
2010 (as amended).
Balogun
insisted that Omoyeni was not a member of the MPN at the time he contested and
lost the primary to him (Balogun) on May 12.
The
plaintiff urged the court to set aside the Terms of Settlement relied upon by
the party to hand Omoyeni the ticket he (Balogun) won at the primary.
Balogun
further prayed the court to grant a mandatory injunction recognizing him as the
authentic MPN governorship candidate.
He expressed
confidence that he would fly the flag of the MPN at the July 14 governorship
poll he believed the court will do justice to his
case.
Addressing
his supporters after the case was filed, Balogun said he took the action to
challenge the alleged injustice meted out to him after he won a keenly
contested primary only to be dropped for Omoyeni.
He vowed to
follow the case to a logical conclusion to retrieve his mandate saying the
sanctity of the votes cast for him by delegates must be protected.
Balogun said
he defeated political heavyweights like former Minister of Science and Technology,Dr.
Bode Olowoporoku, another former Deputy Governor, Chief Abiodun Aluko to win a
primary adjudged to be free, fair and transparent.
He said: “As
at 12 midnight on June 14 when I left INEC office in Abuja, my name was yet to
be substituted; me and my DG were there for more than one-and-half weeks and
nobody had an idea of when the name of Omoyeni was smuggled in.
“Immediately
we notified the court, we notified the Inspector General of Police. At a time
in point I arrested the the National Chairman, Hamisu San Turaki and the
National Secretary in Abuja and we locked them up.
“The primary
was conducted and we passed through all due process. Intention form was given
at cost of N1 million and the nomination form was sold to us at the rate of N5
million.
“I knew when
INEC was involved that we were going to have our primary on May 12 and not only
that, people were sent from other parts of the country like Ondo State, Jigawa
State, Abuja and other places.
“We even
went to Abuja to have a peace accord which was supervised by the national
headquarters that whoever wins will be supported by others and all of us
signed.”
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