Appeal Court Affirms Adeleke’s Eligibility for Osun Guber Poll

James Sowole in Akure

The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State, Saturday affirmed the qualification and eligibility of Osun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ademola Adeleke, to hold office.

The court, presided over by Justice M A Damjuma, dismissed the appeal against the judgment of Osogbo High Court which had confirmed the eligibility of Adeleke to contest for the governorship of Osun State.

The court has Justices R A Abdullahi and P.A Mahmoud as members of the panel.

The Osogbo High Court had ruled that Adeleke was qualified to contest for the governorship having been educated up to secondary school level.

Not satisfied with the Osogbo High Court’s decision, the runners up in the gubernatorial primary election, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, proceeded to the appellate court to challenge the decisions.

Adeleke insisted that the appellate court should declare him the candidate of the PDP.

However, the Akure Appeal Court in its ruling dismissed the appeal on three grounds, affirming the judgment of the lower court that confirmed the eligibility of Adeleke.

The first ground was that the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case.

The second was that the sponsored petitioner, one Kingsley Awosiyan from Ife Central, has no locus standi to file the case and third was that the matter was brought to court outside the stipulated 14 days after the conduct of the governorship primary election.

The decision of the appellate court apparently put to rest the controversy over his eligibility to contest the Osun State governorship election last year.

Reacting to the rulling of the court, the PDP said the decision was gratifying, adding that the case has no substance.

The PDP’s reaction was signed by the party’s Director of Publicity for South West Zone, Ayo Fadaka.

“We take due cognisance of the victory of Senator Ademola Adeleke at the Court of Appeal, Akure on issues concerning his qualification to contest the gubernatorial election.

“It is gratifying to note that the matter was resolved in his favour, particularly as there is no substance to this red herring accentuated and sustained by the APC for such a long time.

“This judgment has most fortunately castrated the curious verdict of the FCT High Court, Bwari.

“While we await hopefully the removal of all roadblocks that the APC has installed to forestall the inauguration of Adeleke as governor of Osun State, we express our confidence in the judiciary to do the needful in ensuring that justice and fair play continues to remain as the threshold upon which our democracy is built,” PDP said.