Osun State Governor Adeboyega Oyetola has urged his supporters to remain calm in the face of the decision of the Federal High Court which nullified his candidature in the July 16 Governorship poll.
He said his team of lawyers would challenge the decision at the Appeal Court, just as he expressed confidence that the decision of the Federal High Court would be set aside.
The Federal High Court had on the 30th September, 2022 nullified the nomination of Governor Oyetola and his Deputy Governorship candidate, Benedict Alabi on the ground that Governor Mai Mala Buni who submitted their names to INEC violated the provisions of Section 183 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.
However, in a press release signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan, Oyetola noted that the case was instituted by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in spite of the plethora of decisions flowing from the apex court that frowns upon such a decision.
He stressed that the position of the law is that, only members of the APC who participated in the primary election could approach the court to challenge the nomination of Oyetola as the candidate of the party.
“All these are part of the antics of the opposition PDP and some of their collaborators from within to distract us. But like every of their plans, this too has fallen flat on their faces.
“They want to distract us from the Tribunal case. But we shall remain focused until we take back our mandate. We have confidence in the Tribunal to do justice in the case before it, just as we have implicit confidence in the Appeal Court to set aside this latest decision of the Federal High Court,” the statement said.
Nullification of candidature
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Kehinde Ogunwumiju, had on the 7th of April, 2022, commenced a suit at the Federal High Court challenging the nomination and sponsorship of Governor Oyetola and his deputy as the duly nominated candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In challenging the competence of the suit, Mr Kunle Adegoke, SAN who represented Governor Oyetola contended, amongst other grounds that the plaintiff did not have the locus to commence the action and that the suit was statute-barred.
In arguing to the contrary, Mr Kehinde Ogunwumiju, submitted that the plaintiff rightly commenced the suit under Section 285(14) (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
In the judgment delivered, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court agreed with the submissions of the plaintiff’s counsel and declared as null and void, the nomination of Governor Adeboyega Isiaka Oyetola and Benedict Alabi by the APC.
The court also held that Governor Mai Mala Buni acted in contravention of the provision of Section 183 of the Constitution when he held dual executive positions as the Governor of Yo e State and the Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of APC.
The court held that the steps or decisions taken by Governor Mai Mala Buni, including forwarding the names of Governor Oyetola and Alabi to INEC, amounted to a nullity in law.
Emmanuel Ukoh
