By Rotimi Ojomoyela
ADO-EKITI — Counsel to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Ebenezer Akinbuyi, has raised concerns over his safety at the ongoing Ekiti State governorship election petition tribunal, alleging that he was attacked within the premises of the tribunal.
Speaking with journalists in Ado-Ekiti after Thursday’s proceedings, Akinbuyi said he no longer felt safe appearing before the tribunal, alleging that he was attacked by a crowd, resulting in an injury to one of his fingers.
He said the development prompted the petitioners to write to the President of the Court of Appeal, seeking the relocation of the proceedings from Ekiti State to Abuja, which he described as a safer venue.
“I don’t feel safe. I do not feel safe, and we do not feel safe because we have written to the President of the Court of Appeal to transfer this case to Abuja, to a safer place,” he said.
Akinbuyi said the petitioners were still awaiting a decision on the request, adding that no application had been dismissed.
He alleged that tension around the tribunal had escalated in recent days, recalling that his principal, Prince Adewole Adebayo, was allegedly molested within the court premises.
The counsel further alleged that agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had, on another occasion, barricaded the main entrance to the court premises, preventing some witnesses from gaining access to the tribunal.
“When I came here, the second petitioner’s agents barricaded the main gate of the court premises and did not allow witnesses to come in. They were showing them weapons and guns, telling them to return to where they were coming from,” he alleged.
He said the alleged incident made it difficult for him to locate and bring his witnesses into the courtroom.
“I was in the courtroom, waiting for my witnesses and calling them, but I could not see them. I informed the court and the tribunal that this was what was happening and showed them the fliers I had received,” he said.
On the alleged attack, Akinbuyi said, “This finger is broken. I went to the State Hospital and had an X-ray. I was placed on medication.”
However, counsel to the APC, Adetunji Oso, disputed Akinbuyi’s account, urging him not to give what he described as a false narration of events.
Oso said Akinbuyi was neither attacked within the court premises nor by members of the APC.
He also disagreed with the SDP counsel’s claim that the application to relocate the tribunal was still awaiting a decision by the Court of Appeal.
“That is not true. The President of the Court of Appeal had directed that the hearing of the petitions in both cases should continue in Ado-Ekiti. That is why we are sitting here. That is why there was a hearing today,” Oso said.
Earlier in Thursday’s proceedings, the SDP counsel called six witnesses who were cross-examined by counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC.
The three-member tribunal, chaired by Justice Abubakar Kutigi, adjourned the case until September 25, 2026, for continuation of hearing.
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