Supreme Court Dismissed PDP’s Suit Against Adegboyega Oyetola Of Osun State

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

Recall that Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had, in a judgment he delivered 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.

Read Also;APC Congratulates Oyetola Says The Tribunal Judgement Is A Win For Democracy.

Justice Nwite’s judgment was set aside by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division in a judgment in December 2022, a decision which PDP appealed to the Supreme Court.

In a Supreme Court judgment on 2nd February 2023, a five-member panel of Justices of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Centus Nweze, held that the appeal by the PDP was lacking in merit and directed the lawyer to the PDP, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN) to withdraw it.

The court held that the PDP could not, under the law, question the process leading to the emergence of Oyetola and Alabi as candidates of the APC in the election.

Recall that the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal had sacked Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP as the governor of Osun State for over voting in some polling units across the state and ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Adeleke and issued a certificate of return to Oyetola.