Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has closed his defence before the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal after tendering key electoral documents obtained from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to support his re-election victory.

Oyebanji, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the June 20, 2026 governorship election, tendered the documents on Tuesday through his lead counsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, in response to separate petitions filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Action Alliance (AA).

The documents, which included Certified True Copies of Forms EC8D and EC8E, were admitted and marked as exhibits by the three-member tribunal panel chaired by Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi.

Form EC8D contains the summary of results collated from the 16 local government areas at the state level, while Form EC8E is the official result sheet for the governorship election as declared by INEC.

There was no objection to the admissibility of the documents from the legal representatives of INEC, the SDP and the AA.

Moving to close Oyebanji’s defence, Ikpeazu told the tribunal that, having reviewed the petitioners’ evidence and the testimony of their witnesses during cross-examination, his client would not call any witness.

The application to close the governor’s case was not opposed by counsel to the petitioners or INEC.

Earlier, INEC’s legal team, led by Sulaiman Ibrahim, SAN, and Wendy Kuku, SAN, also tendered certified copies of Forms EC8D and EC8E in support of the conduct of the election and the declaration of its results.

The documents were admitted as exhibits without objection. INEC subsequently closed its cases in both petitions, with its counsel stating that the evidence already before the tribunal was sufficient for the electoral commission’s defence.

The tribunal directed all parties to file and exchange their written addresses and replies within the time prescribed by law before adjourning proceedings to Friday, November 20, for the adoption of the addresses.

The development brings the proceedings closer to their conclusion, as the tribunal prepares to consider the evidence and arguments presented by the parties.

The SDP and AA had earlier closed their cases after presenting their evidence against the governor’s re-election.Oyebanji secured 319,224 votes in the June 20 governorship election to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Wole Oluyede, who polled 40,543 votes.

The African Democratic Congress candidate, Dare Bejide, came third with 12,872 votes, while the SDP candidate, Adebayo Alade, scored 179 votes and the AA candidate, Olu Omotoso, polled 126 votes.

The tribunal is expected to consider the parties’ written submissions before reaching a decision on the petitions challenging the governor’s return.