An Abuja  Federal High Court on Thursday nullified the verdict of the FCT High Court disqualifying Senator Ademola Adeleke from the Osun State gubernatorial poll held in September 2018 while upholding his appeal.

The appellant court affirmed  the affidavit which is the evidence brought by the West African Examination Council alongside the result ledger is an indication that the PDP was not a dropout but actually sat for the May 1981 examination at the Muslim Grammar School,Ede.

Justice Emmanuel Agim, while delivering the lead judgment on be half the three man Justice panel awarded a cost of N3 million against the plaintiffs who initiated the law suit before the FCT High Court, Bwari, Wahab Raheem and Adam Habeeb were respondents to the appeal by the governorship candidate and the  Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

They are challenging the verdict delivered by the High Court in April nullifying Adeleke candidacy on the ground that he forged his secondary school leaving certificate examination submitted to the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in 2018.

Justice Othman Musa of the FCT High Court rule that Adeleke is a drop out of the de Muslim Grammar School in Ede, Osun State and thereby ineligible to contest last Osun gubernotorial election as stipulated by Section 177(d) of the Constitution.While dismissing the verdict Justice Agim affirmed that the lead judgment of the Court of Appeal disclosed that since the suit was not filed withing the stipulated 14 days after Adeleke’s Form CF001 was tendered before the electoral umpire or 14 days after his name was put forward as a candidate in the election, the law suit filed at the FCT High is statute barred according to Section 285 of the Constitution.

The Justice also inferred that since the lower court failed to deliver its judgement within 60 days of filing the law suit the judgment delivered by the court is nullity.

But the appellant court ruled that the affidavit evidence of the West African Examination Council alogside the result ledger attached to it showed that the governorship candidate was not a drop out but actually sat for the May 1981 examination organised by WAEC at the Muslim Grammar School located in Ede,Osun State. He disclosed that according to the Section 177 of the Constitution by sitting for the examination and without passing any subject, Adeleke was qualified to contest the gubernotorial election in Osun State.

 

SOURCE: ICRI.COM

 

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