The Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Tuesday in Akure began sitting and granted candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Eyitayo Jegede, permission to inspect materials used for voting during the October 10 governorship election in the state.
The tribunal headed by Justice Umar Abubakar also granted an order for substituted service to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who was declared winner of the governorship election.
In an exparte order, the tribunal granted the orders moved by Jamiu Makinde, one of the counsels representing Jegede.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Governor Akeredolu, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, as winner of the election after he polled a total of 292,830 votes.
Jegede, who finished second in the election, polled 195,791 votes during the exercise, which was held in all 18 local government areas of the state.
After not being satisfied with the outcome of the exercise, Jegede approached the tribunal to challenge the result.
The grounds of the PDP candidate before the tribunal are that the election was marred by irregularities and violence.
Jegede’s lawyer, Makinde, had in the motion exparte sought an order to serve the defendants through substituted service by pasting the petition on the notice board of the tribunal.
He also sought an order allowing access to materials used for the conduct of the October 10, governorship election and custody of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
He listed local councils in which electoral materials are to be accessed to include Owo, Eseodo, Ilaje, Okitipupa among others.
Justice Abubakar granted the order and said the petitioner could advertise the served processes in a newspaper circulating within its jurisdiction.
The tribunal also allowed the petitioner access to election materials in the custody of INEC within the hours of 8:00am and 4:00pm from Mondays to Fridays.
