Gboyega Oyetola & Ademola Adeleke. |
This
is not the best of times politically in Osun State as the principal political
actors, the sworn in Governor, Gboyega Oyetola and Senator Ademola Adeleke are
headed for a show-down as the Court of Appeal decides their individual fates in
the state.
Lateef Dada reports that without mincing words, the
governor of Osun state, Gboyega Oyetola and his arc-rival in the September 22,
2018 governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic
Party, (PDP) are presently in tension following the unfavourable judgment of
the election petition tribunal and the Bwari High Court, Abuja.
Exactly
six months after the gubernatorial election, the election petition tribunal
sitting in Apo, Abuja, on March 22, 2019, delivered judgment in favour of
Adeleke, directing that the certificate of return be withdrawn from Oyetola
while a new certificate should be issued to Adeleke immediately.
Apparently
shocked by the pronouncement of the tribunal, some groups, allegedly sponsored
by the state government, stormed Oshogbo, the capital of Osun state to protest
the judgment of the tribunal that nullified the election of Oyetola.
Later,
Oyetola went to challenge the judgment of the tribunal at the appellate court,
praying the court to upturn the decision of the majority judgment of the
tribunal.
In
a 39-ground notice of appeal filed on March 26, 2019 by his team of lawyers led
by Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Oyetola faulted the majority judgment of Justices
Peter Obiora and Anyinla Gbolagunte on the grounds that it was perverse,
replete with contradictions and not supported by evidence led by the
petitioners.
Oyetola
prayed the Court of Appeal to uphold his appeal, set aside the majority
judgment and dismiss the October 16, 2018 petition by PDP and Adeleke.
Oyetola
argued that the tribunal was wrong to have declared Adeleke winner of the
election held on September 22 and 27, 2018 on ground of non-compliance rather
than ordering a rerun election, noting that, not only did the decision
disenfranchise the electorate in the affected polling units, it violated the
provision of Section 140 (2) of the Electoral Act.
He
said his complaint, in the appeal, was against the entire majority judgment,
except where the tribunal held that it lacked jurisdiction to set aside INEC
Guidelines; that the allegation of over-voting was not proved; that the
petitioners did not prove voided votes and other parts of the judgment where
the tribunal agreed with their arguments.
Oyetola
is contending, in his first ground of appeal, that the entirety of the majority
judgment is a nullity because it was written and delivered by Justice Obiora
whom he said, “Did not participate in all the proceedings of the tribunal and
who was not present when all the witnesses gave evidence.”
After
11 days that the tribunal declared Adeleke winner of the Osun election, Justice
Othman Musa of an Abuja High Court, sitting in Bwari Area Council, nullified
the nomination of Senator Adeleke as candidate of the PDP in the September 22,
2018 governorship election. Two chieftains of the APC: Wahab Raheem and Adam
Habeeb, had in 2018 barely few days to the governorship election, dragged
Adeleke to court, alleging that he did not possess the requisite educational
qualification (secondary school certificate) to contest for the office of the
governor.
They
urged the court to disqualify Adeleke from participating in the September 22
governorship election and the court subsequently granted the order on the
grounds that Adeleke offended section 177 of the 1999 Constitution which
stipulates that candidates for the position of governor must be educated up to
secondary school level.
Shortly
after the judgment, the Ademola Adeleke Campaign Organisation, who had earlier
lauded the judgment, faulted the disqualification of Adeleke’s candidacy by the
Bwari court. The group in a statement by its spokesperson, Mr Niyi Owolade,
noted that the issue had been settled by two high courts, describing the Bwari
judgment as shocking.
The
group said, “First of all, the matter in question has been addressed by two
high court rulings affirming that in the face of the constitution, Senator
Ademola Adeleke is qualified to run for the governorship. The two rulings
delivered in September 2018 held that Adeleke satisfied requirement of the law
to contest for office. It is trite in law that once a court of coordinate
jurisdiction has ruled on a matter, a court of similar jurisdiction cannot
entertain it.”
Now
that the two major rival are making serious efforts to get free of restraints,
the incumbent governor, Oyetola, must do everything legally possible to make
sure that the appellate court upturn the nullification of his election by the
tribunal, while his arc-rival, Adeleke must put up a legal battle to win the
two appeal court. He needs the court of appeal in Akure, Ondo state, to uphold
the tribunal judgment that declared him winner, and the Court of Appeal in
Abuja, to dismiss the Bwari judgment that disqualified his candidacy.
As
the battle was on, victory came the way of Adeleke in one of the pending suits
against his eligibility to contest the governorship election. On Saturday April
6, a Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo state, affirmed the eligibility of
Adeleke to contest, contrary to the judgment of the Justice David Oladimeji of
Osogbo High court. The court dismissed the appeal filed against the judgment of
Osun state High court in Osogbo that had earlier affirmed that Adeleke is
eligible to contest election as governor.
With
the dissenting judgment by the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Muhammad
Sirajo, the duo of Oyetola and Adeleke have to wait for the appeal to decide
whether to uphold the majority judgment or the minority judgment. Justice
Sirajo, in a dissenting view on the judgment said, “I have the privilege of
reading in draft the majority judgment of the tribunal just delivered by my
learned brother, Justice Peter Obiorah.
“Even
though I participated actively and contributed immensely by writing some
portions of the judgment just delivered, I disagreed with the decisions and conclusions
reached by my learned brothers with regards to the allegation of non-compliance
with the provision of Electoral Act, particularly, the allegation of
non-recording.
A
former Attorney General in Osun state, Mr Niyi Owolade, maintained that the
majority judgment is on the side of the law, saying that the alterations in
form EC8A is substantial enough to accept that the election was rigged in
favour of Oyetola.
The
question people are asking however is if there will be another re-run in Osun
state. The September 27 governorship re-run was widely condemned by national
and international observers including the media because it was characterised by
violence.
Will
the appeal upturn the judgment of the tribunal and declare Oyetola as
substantive winner of the election without taking note of the irregularities
pointed out by the tribunal? The PDP has the right to go to Supreme Court. What
if the appeal upholds the judgment of the tribunal and declare Adeleke winner?
The certificate scandal may prevent Adeleke from taking over. All these,
investigation reveal will unfold in a matter of days.
However,
in a chat with Blueprint, a lawyer, Mr Femi Ayandokun, explained that the
second runner up of Adeleke at the primary, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, who was alleged
to be a mole to Senator Bola Tinubu, will take over. How that will unfold is
what everyone is waiting to see.
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