The Lagos State Election Petitions Appeal Tribunal, on Thursday upturned the judgment of the state election tribunal which declared Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Babajide Obanikoro, winner of the Obalende Local Council Development Area (LCDA) election.

The five-man appeal tribunal returned victory to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Adewale Adeniji, declaring him as the chairman of Obalende LCDA.

Justice Samuel Candide-Johnson, who read the judgment, said the substantive appeal filed by ACN and its candidate, Adeniji succeeded.

The judge said the judgment of the election tribunal, which gave victory to Obanikoro, was incurably bad.

He ordered the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, (LASIEC) to issue a certificate of return to Adeniji as the duly elected chairman of the council.

The judgment was upheld by other members of the appeal tribunal, which was headed by Justice Opeyemi Oke.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the lower tribunal had on Oct. 4, 2012, unseated Adeniji and declared Obanikoro winner of the election.

Adeniji, who had earlier been declared by LASIEC as the winner of the election of Oct. 22, 2011, and his party, however, challenged the verdict.

They prayed the appellate tribunal to set aside the judgment of the lower tribunal which had also ordered LASEIC to withdraw the Certificate of Return it issued to Adeniji .