Court Nullifies Adeleke’s Nomination For Osun Guber Polls Over Certificate Forgery

Justice Oathman Musa of an Abuja High Court sitting in Bwari Area Council of Abuja on Tuesday Nullified the nomination of Senator Ademola Adeleke as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the September 2018 Governorship Election in Osun State.

Adeleke, who
represents Osun West Senatorial District at the National Assembly was
the PDP’s candidate in the 2018 governorship election in Osun state.

Two
Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Wahab Raheem and
Adam Habeeb, had in 2018 barely few days to the governorship election in
Osun State had dragged Adeleke to court, accusing him of not possessing
the requisite educational qualification (secondary school certificate)
to contest for the office of governor.

They prayed the court for
an order to disqualify Adeleke from participating in the Sept 22
governorship election in the state on the grounds that he does not
possess the requisite educational qualification.

Delivering
judgment in the suit Tuesday, Justice Musa annulled Adeleke’s nomination
on the grounds that Adeleke offended section 177 of the 1999
constitution as amended. The section stipulated that candidates for the
position of governor must be educated up to secondary school level.

According
to Justice Musa, while the court’s findings showed that Adeleke entered
secondary school in 1976, there was no record to show that he actually
graduated as his name was no longer seen in the school’s register from
1980.

Justice Musa further stated that the result Adeleke
attached to his form CF001 which he submitted to the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) was fake, as it was found to be
different from the one presented to the court by the principal of Ede
Muslim High School, Ede, Osun State.

Meanwhile, Adeleke’s lawyer
Nathaniel Oke SAN has faulted the judgment of Justice Musa on the
grounds that the judge erred in law by going out of hiy way to source
for evidence to arrive at his “unjust conclusion”.

He submitted
that the court erred particularly when it ignored WAEC evidence that
Adeleke was educated up to Secondary School level as required by law.

Source:- Thisdaylive