SUPREME COURT DISMISS LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST OYETOLA’S PARTICIPATION IN OSUN ELECTION

February 2, 2023

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By Adeniyi Onaara

A five-member Supreme Court panel led by Justice Centus Nweze ruled that the PDP’s appeal lacked merit and ordered PDP counsel Kehinde Ogunwumiju to withdraw it.

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to reinstate the nullification of Osun’s ex-governor Gboyega Oyetola and his deputy Benedict Alabi’s participation in the July 16, 2022 governorship election.

On Thursday, a five-member Supreme Court panel led by Justice Centus Nweze ruled that the PDP’s appeal lacked merit and ordered PDP counsel Kehinde Ogunwumiju to withdraw it.

The court ruled that the PDP could not challenge the process that led to the selection of Oyetola and Alabi as All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the election under the law.

On September 30, 2022, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that Oyetola and Alabi’s participation in the governorship election was invalidated because their nomination forms were endorsed by an acting Chairman of the APC who was also a serving governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni.

In December last year, the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned Justice Nwite’s judgment, which the PDP appealed to the Supreme Court.