Federal High Court Dismisses Suit Seeking Disqualification Of Osun State Gov Oyetola

From Emmanuel Iyoho

ABUJA

Ahead ‪of July 16‬ governorship election in Osun State, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking the disqualification of Osun State governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the ‪July 16‬ governorship election scheduled to hold in the state.

The court had fixed Thursday to deliver judgment in a suit seeking the disqualification of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State as the APC candidate in the July 16 governorship election.

Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed the date after counsel for the parties adopted their processes and presented their arguments in the matter.

Delivering judgment, Justice Inyang Ekwo stated that the plaintiff, Moshood Adeoti, failed to support the process with relevant laws, and as such, showed no cause of action in the suit which makes it a gross abuse of court process.

Justice Ekwo maintained that the suit instituted falls outside the scope of Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act and Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended.)

The plaintiff in the suit and a chieftain of the APC, MoshoodAdeoti, had filed the matter through his legal team led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chiesonu Okpoko.

Adeoti was one of the aspirants who lost the APC governorship ticket to Governor Oyetola in the party’s primary held on February 19.

In the originating summons, he prayed the court to nullify Oyetola’s candidacy on the grounds that the governor contested in the poll as a member of the party’s Caretaker Extraordinary and Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).

The plaintiff said the act contravened the provisions of Section 222 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Article 31(iii) of the APC, October 2014 (as amended).

According to him, the second defendant (Oyetola) ought to have resigned his membership of the APC’s CECPC and leave office as an officer of APC at least 30 days prior to the date of the OsunState primary election, to qualify for participation in the said party primary election.

Governor Oyetola is seeking to extend his tenure in office by another four years, having won the last election held in 2018.