As Osun State decides,the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, dismissed a suit seeking the disqualification of Osun State governor Adegboyega Oyetola as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Saturday, July 16 governorship election in the state.
A governorship aspirant on the APC platform in Osun, Moshood Adeoti, had filed the suit seeking the nullification of Mr Oyetola’s candidacy on the grounds that the governor participated in the primary while serving as a member of the party’s Caretaker Extraordinary and Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).
The CECPC led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State handed over to the party’s new National Working Committee (NWC) led by Abdullahi Adamu in March this year.
Sued as defendants in the suit are the APC, Mr Oyetola and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
But delivering judgement in the case on Thursday, the judge, Inyang Ekwo, held that “the plaintiff’s suit does not establish any cause of action.”
Agreeing with Mr Oyetola and APC’s arguments, the judge said Mr Adeoti’s “case constituted an abuse of court process.”
“I make an order dismissing this suit,” the judge held.
Mr Ekwo said the APC’s CECPC’s is not part of the offices “provided for by the party’s constitution,” adding that it was just an ad hoc creation of the APC.
The judge clarified that Mr Oyetola’s membership of the CECPC did not constitute a breach of Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Amendment 2022.
The controversial clause in the Electoral Amendment Act 2022, provides that “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”