Ogun state Governor-elect, Prince Dapo Abiodun is a winner again as an Appeal Court has dismissed a suit seeking to disqualify him over his educational qualification.
Abiodun who won the March 9 governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was accused of lying on oath about his qualifications in the Form CF001 he used to secure clearance from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
A constitutional lawyer and member of the APC in the state, Mr. Abdulrafiu Baruwa had before the election, lodged a suit before an Abuja High Court wherein he sought an order for Abiodun to be removed as the flag-bearer of the party.
The appellate court, in a unanimous judgment of a three-man panel, held on Monday that the appeal by Abdulrafiu Adesina Baruwa, was without merit.
The panel, headed by Justice Abubakar Datti Yahaya, equally upheld the reasoning of Justice Olukayode Adeniyi of the High Court of the FCT in Apo, who in the earlier judgment, dismissed the case for lacking in merit.
The Court of Appeal agreed with Abiodun’s lawyer, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN) that the suit was filed outside the 14 days provided for the commencement of pre-election cases under the 4th Alteration of Act of 2017.
Ogunwumiju had, at the hearing of the appeal, argue that the refusal by the Gov-elect to include his university qualification in the Form CF001 he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not amount to a breach of Section 31(6) of the Electoral Act, 2010.
He insisted that Abiodun was qualified to contest the election, having met the requirements under sections 177 and 182 of the 1999 Constitution.
