The Appeal Court, sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, has pronounced Oladipupo Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State.
It also reinstated the candidates for the House of Assembly, and National Assembly produced at the end of primaries conducted by the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP..
The National Assembly candidates include three for senatorial, and nine for House of Representatives that were also produced at the same primaries, that were monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The 26 House of Assembly candidates for the party were also restored by the court.
The Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, had nullified the emergence of Adebutu and other PDP candidates from the primaries in its judgment delivered on September 27. The court had also ordered PDP to conduct fresh primaries within 14 days to elect new candidates.
But Adebutu and others appealed the judgment at the Court of Appeal. They prayed the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court. The appeal filed by Adebutu was marked CA/IB/411/411A/2022 against the judgment of Justice O.O. Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court.
Ruling on the appeal, Justice Nimpar Yargata set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court on the grounds that the trial court erred by nullifying the primaries conducted by the NWC of PDP, which produced Adebutu
The appellate court held that the persons that challenged the emergence of Adebutu in the lower court did not have locus standi to institute the litigation.
The court said Taiwo Olabode and others who instituted the case were not aspirants on the platform of PDP, and so lacked the rights to challenge the outcome of the primary they did not participate in.
