A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sittinv at Bwari , on Tuesday, voided the nomination of Senator Ademola Adekele as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the September 2018 Governorship Election in Osun State. The court, in a judgment that was delivered by Justice Othman Musa nullified Adeleke’s nomination on the premise that he was not qualified to participate in the gubernatorial contest.
Justice Musa said he was satisfied that Adeleke who is currently representing Osun west senatorial District, does not posses the minimum educational qualification prescribed in section 177 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. The court noted that the section stipulated that candidates vying for governorship position must be educated up the secondary school level. Justice Musa stressed that whereas the court found that Adeleke entered secondary school in 1976, he said there was no record to show that the PDP’s flag- bearer actually graduated as his name was not found in the school’s register from 1980.
The court held that the result Adeleke attached to the form CF001 he used to secure clearance from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was fake. It stressed that the result was found to be different from the one that was presented to the court by the principal of Ede Muslim High School, Ede, Osun State, where Adeleke purportedly graduated from. Consequently, the court held that his nomination to participate in the September 22, 2018, governorship election was bound to be nullified.
Reacting through his lawyer, Mr. Nathaniel Oke, SAN, Adeleke insisted that the Judge erred in law and occassioned a miscarriage of justice against him. He alleged that Justice Musa went beyond what was presented before the court by the parties and on his own sourced the evidence he relied on arrive at a unjust conclusion in the matter. The embattled PDP candidate said he was confident that the verdict would be overturned by the Court of Appeal, insisting that he has the requisite educational qualification to occupy the Osun State governorship seat. It will be recalled that the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had in a two-to-one split judgment on March 22, declared Adeleke as the valid winner of the gubernatorial contest.
Culled from Vanguard News.
