Supreme Court dismisses suit against Oyetola’s participation in Osun poll

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to restore the nullification of the participation of Osun’s ex-Governor and his Deputy, Gboyega Oyetola and Bendict Alabi in the July 16, 2022 governorship election.

Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had, in a judgment on September 30, 2022 nullified the participation of Oyetola and Alabi in the governorship election on the grounds that their nomination forms were endorsed by an acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who was also a serving governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni.

Justice Nwite nullified the nominations of Oyetola and his deputy while delivering judgment in the suit filed by the PDP.

The suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/468/2022, had Mai Mala Buni and four others as defendants.

Justice Nwite in his judgement held that the nomination of Oyetola and his deputy, was unlawful and unconstitutional because Buni, who submitted their names to INEC, violated the provisions of Section 183 of the Constitution and Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.

Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, counsel to the PDP, had in the suit dated April 7, urged the court to void the nomination of Governor Oyetola and his deputy as the duly nominated candidates of the APC on the grounds that the action of Buni breached the law.

However, Ogunwumiju’s submission was opposed by Oyetola’s lawyer, Kunle Adegoke, SAN, who urged the court to dismiss the suit for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

According to Oyetola’s lawyer, the Plaintiff did not have the locus to commence the legal action against the defendants, since it was not a member of the APC and more so, the issue of nomination was an internal matter of political parties.

Oyetola, in addition, argued that the suit was statute-barred, hence the court should dismiss it.

In his judgement, Justice Nwite agreed with the submissions of the Plaintiff’s counsel and declared as null and void, the nomination of Oyetola and Alabi by the APC.

The court also held that Governor Buni acted in contravention of the provision of Section 183 of the Constitution when he held dual executive positions as the Governor of Yobe State and the Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of APC.

The court held that the steps or decisions taken by Buni, including forwarding the names of Oyetola and Alabi to INEC, amounted to a nullity in law.

Recall that Oyetola was recently declared the winner of the July 16 governorship election in the state by the State Election Tribunal, thus upturning the earlier declaration of PDP’s Ademola Adeleke as the victor by INEC. Adeleke, who had been sworn in as the governor, has appealed the judgement of the Tribunal.

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