The Court of Appeal in Abuja will on Thursday (tomorrow, May 30, 2019) deliver judgment in the separate appeals by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the last governorship election in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke.
The court announced the date of judgment in hearing notices sent to parties by its Registry.
The PDP and Adeleke are, by their appeals, challenging the April 2, 2019 judgment by Justice Othman Musa of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Bwari, which voided Adeleke’s candidacy for the election on the grounds that he was not qualified, having not possessed valid secondary school certificate.
The judgment by Justice Musa was in the suit by Wahab Raheem and Adam Habeeb, who claimed that Adeleke was not qualified, under Section 177 of the Constitution to contest the governorship election.
A panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Adamu Jauro, at the conclusion of hearing in the appeals on May 14 this year, told parties that a date for judgment would be communicated to them.
Adeleke’s lawyer, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), while arguing the appeal, faulted the judgment of the trial court.
Ogunwumiju urged the court to uphold his client’s appeal and set aside the judgment.
He
faulted the claim that Adeleke forged the West African Examination
Council (WAEC) certificate he presented to the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to secure clearance for the gubernatorial
election
Ogunwumiju stated that the certificate attached to
Adeleke’s nomination Form CF 001 was lawfully issued to him and was
confirmed by WAEC in its affidavit evidence submitted to the High
Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Bwari.
He added that what Adeleke presented to INEC to secure qualification for the gubernatorial election was the same result that WAEC presented before the trial court when it was ordered to do so.
Ogunwumiju argued that the trial court erred in law when it ignored document, which it ordered to be presented, in reaching the decision that Adeleke did not possess the requisite academic qualification for the office of Governor.
Ogunwumiju
noted that there was no case of non-qualification or forgery against
Adeleke before the lower court.
Lawyer to the PDP, Emmanuel
Enoidem, urged the court to set aside the judgment of the trial court
and proceed to dismiss the suit, on which it was based,for being
incompetent and statute barred.
Enoidem, who is also PDP’s National Legal Adviser, argued that the suit was caught by the Fourth Alteration Act, having been filed outside the 14 days allowed by law.
