Oyo State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ibadan yesterday begun its pre-hearing conference on petitions before it amid heavy security .
No fewer than 17 petitions have been confirmed to be before the Oyo State Election Petition Tribunal
The petitions include four senatorial and 13 house of assembly cases
All the petitioners are separately challenging the declaration of different candidates as the legitimate winners of the elections of the February 23 and March 9 national Assembly and house of assembly elections respectively.
At the conference of the Oyo State High Court, Iyaganku, Ibadan,venue of the sitting,the tribunal is expected to meet the parties with a view to setting up modalities to be adopted in the actual hearing of substantive issues in dispute.
However,there was heavy armed security operatives which include the Police, Army and the State Security Service, self-styled as the Department of State Services (DSS) strategically positioned within the court premises yesterday morning venue of the sitting.
The court room was filled up to the brim with lawyers, INEC officials, journalists and politicians.
Akinremi Feyisipo,Ibadan
