Another landmark court decision has been recorded in respect of the gubernatorial election held in Osun state on July 16 2022 as the Court of Appeal on Friday overturned the Federal High Court ruling that had earlier declared Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola’s candidacy nullified.
The Court of Appeal in its ruling affirmed the candidacy and the nomination of Oyetola as governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC , ditto Benedict Alabi as Deputy Governorship candidate.
Oyetola and Alabi are the immediate past Governor and Deputy Governor of Osun state.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned the Appeal Court not only set aside the ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja, delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite which had nullified Oyetola’s candidacy but also awarded costs and ordered that the appellants be paid N200,000 .
Recall that the Federal High Court , Abuja had on September 30, 2022, nullified the nomination of Oyetola and his running mate, Alabi on the grounds that Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, who submitted their names to INEC, had violated the provisions of Section 183 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Section 82 (3) of the Electoral Act 2022.
In his judgment, Justice Emeka 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 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through its counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, had taken Governor Buni and four others to court questioning the nomination and sponsorship of Oyetola and his running mate as candidates of the APC.
But the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, in appeal no: CA/ABJ/CV/1099/2022 between Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola & Anor v PDP & Ors, authenticated the nomination of Oyetola and Alabi.
In allowing the appeal filed by Oyetola and his party, APC, the Court of Appeal held that outcome of a governorship primary is a collective decision of a party, through its congress, and constitutional challenge or deformity of any officer of the party cannot render it illegal.
The Court, therefore, held that notwithstanding the defects in the letter forwarding the nomination and sponsorship of Oyetola and his running mate to INEC, the fact that they had emerged as candidates through a valid primary cannot be ruled out; thus, the defect of Buni signing the letter conveying the nomination of the appellants cannot be a ground to reject the results and desire of party’s primary election.
Regarding the question of immunity of Governor Mai Mala Buni, who submitted the nomination of the Appellants to the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC), the Court equally held that Buni cannot be sued because the immunity enjoyed by him guaranteed him against civil and criminal suits.
In the ruling which lasted more than one hour, the appellate court questioned Justice Nwite for his failure not to consider a classical precedent judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Jegede v INEC before he arrived at his judgment.
The Court of Appeal came hard on the High Court Judge and awarded the cost of N200,000 in favour of the Appellants.
This judgment will definitely allow Oyetola to now concentrate on his petition at the Tribunal challenging the declaration of Governor Ademola Adeleke as winner of the July 16 governorship election – Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980. Thank you
