The Akure division of the Court of Appeal yesterday said the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September governorship election in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, was eligible to contest the election.
The Appeal Court in its ruling dismissed an appeal against the judgment of an Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo which had earlier confirmed the eligibility of Adeleke to contest the governorship election.
The Appeal court sitting in Akure,the Ondo state capital 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 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.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to Adeleke, Nathaniel Oke said the latest judgment has knocked out the judgment of an Abuja High Court and rendered its conclusion ineffective, null and void with no effect on the candidacy of the PDP candidate for the September 2018 gubernatorial election.
He said the Abuja High court judgment had contradicted the Osogbo High court verdict by rejecting testimonies of WAEC, an examination body which in a sworn affidavit confirmed that Ademola Adeleke sat for its examination with attached results
