Headline

Osun: “Bwari Court Judgement Is Flawed, We Will Appeal It”-Adeleke

Published

6 years ago

April 3, 2019

Editor

Peoples Democratic Patry (PDP) Osun State Gubernatorial Candidate, Senator Ademola has described yesterday’s Court judgement which nullified his nomination as flawed. He has promised to appeal.

In a statement by his campaign organisation, Adeleke noted that the matter had been addressed by two high courts and the Bwari Court erred.

The statement read: We receive with shock and bewilderment the judgement of a Bwari High Court on the propriety of the statement of results of Senator Ademola Adeleke as a contestant for the governorship of Osun state.The judgement delivered today subverted justice by ignoring four critical evidence to rule against validated facts and submissions.

While we are set to appeal the judgement ,we also find it compelling to put the records straight by listing out the fatal flaws in the ruling and why it cannot stand before a superior court.

It would be recalled first of all that the matter in question has been addressed by two High Courts ruling ,affirming that in the face of the constitution,Senator
Ademola Adeleke is qualified to run for the governorship. The two rulings delivered in September 2018 held that Senator Adeleke satisfied requirement of the law to contest for office.It is trite in law that once a court of coordinate jurisdiction has ruled on a matter ,court of similar jurisdiction cannot entertain it.Shockingly,the Bwari judge breached this precept to subvert justice.

Secondly ,we want to note that the judge erred in law by failing to take note of the expiration of 180 days for ruling on pre-election matters.Even when a December 2018 judgement with respect to the issue was presented, the judge ignored it. We note that the judge violated the law by adjudicating over a matter whose filing and hearing period has expired.

Thirdly,the West African Examination Council was also summoned by the court at the instance of the plaintiff to present evidence of facts.The council produced the listing of all students who sat for the May/June examination in 1981 alongside the Senator.The Council produced certified true copies of school results.

The Council produced evidence which proved that Senator Ademola Adeleke was indeed educated up to secondary school level as stipulated by law and therefore qualified to run for the governorship, the judge still went ahead to rule otherwise.The WAEC at no point denounced the secondary school qualification of Senator Adeleke.The only statutory body empowered by law to determine authenticity of a secondary results is the West African Examination Council.The Council not only witnessed in support of Senator Adeleke but also presented certified true copies of his school results.What other evidence the judge needs to rule in favour of the Senator is not clear.

Fourthly, the plaintif shocked by WAEC testimony, again filed request that the court compelled the school principal to appear in court to produce evidence of facts as well as to confirm the authenticity of the statement of results. The principal appeared and confirmed that the statement was a product of the school and that any error on the statement was that of the school ,not that of Senator Adeleke.The school did not at any point disowned the statement of results .The school owned up to the error which was not about forgery but alleged false information.

From the foregoing ,we affirm that today’s judgement of the Bwari court is a travesty of justice, a purchased ruling designed to negatively affect the outcome of Osun governorship legal tussle.We declare unequivocally that the ruling being so glaringly against tested facts and the law cannot stand.It is also clear that the ruling cannot in anyway stop the reality that Ademola Adeleke fulfilled constitutional requirements to stand for the governorship as confirmed by the WAEC,the school principal and previous judgements on the matter.

We appeal to our numerous supporters and good people of Osun state to remain calm
This is another failed bid in the efforts of detractors to stop the realisation of Peoples mandate.We are marching ahead as before the law,our candidate, Ademola Adeleke is qualified to seek the governorship and before people and God ,he is the governor elect of Osun state.

Headline

Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement

Published

2 days ago

July 10, 2025

Eric

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.

In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).

The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.

The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.

The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.

Headline

Supreme Court Upholds Election of Monday Okpebholo As Edo Governor

Published

2 days ago

July 10, 2025

Eric

The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.

In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.

Headline

‘Overthrow’ Comment: Tinubu’ll Be Removed by Votes, Not Bullets, ADC Replies Presidency

Published

2 days ago

July 10, 2025

Eric

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday, said President Bola Tinubu will be removed through the ballot and not bullets.It dismissed insinuations that the coalition is interested in truncating democracy in Nigeria.

ADC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, accused Tinubu of laying the foundation for a clampdown on opposition leaders.

He made the remark in response to a tweet by Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, who alleged that the opposition was planning to overthrow the President.

Onanuga had said the coalition had ganged up to overthrow Tinubu’s administration.Rubbishing Onanuga’s comment, Abdullahi described his remark as reckless and unsubstantiated.

In a statement he signed, Abdullahi said Onanuga’s comment shows that Tinubu’s administration is out to intimidate and repress opposition political leaders in Nigeria.

He noted that ADC would explore Democratic means to ensure Tinubu’s removal from office and not by overthrowing him.

The statement read partly: “ADC condemned the tweet made by an aide of President Bola Tinubu, Onanuga, which alleges that the opposition is planning to overthrow the Tinubu government before 2027.

“If anything, it potentially lays the grounds for systematic clampdown on opposition leaders.

“The ADC is not interested in truncating democracy, we are solely committed to saving the nation from the irredeemable incompetence of this government. We are not soldiers, we are politicians.

“We don’t have bullets; we only have the ballots. When the time comes, we will only present our solutions and an alternative vision of the future to the Nigerian people and leave them to make their choice.”