Osun Election: Court throws out suit seeking to stop Oyetola

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking the disqualification of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the July 16 governorship election.

Justice Inyang Ekwo said the plaintiff, Moshood Adeoti, failed to support the process with relevant laws, and as such, showed no cause of action in the suit, which made it a gross abuse of court process.

He added that the suit instituted fell outside the scope of section 87(9) of the Electoral Act and Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

Adeoti, a chieftain of the APC, after losing the February 19 Osun APC governorship primary to Oyetola had approached the court to nullify Oyetola’s candidacy, on the grounds that the governor contested the primary as a member of the party’s Caretaker Extraordinary and Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).

The plaintiff said the act contravened the provisions of Section 222 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Article 31(iii) of the APC, October 2014 (as amended).

According to him, the second defendant (Oyetola) ought to have resigned his membership of the APC’s CECPC and leave office as an officer of APC at least 30 days prior to the date of the Osun State primary election, to qualify for participation in the said party primary election.

Oyetola is running for a second term in office, having won the last election held in 2018.