Senator Ademola Adeleke has given four reasons why he believes the Tuesday’s judgment of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Bwari, Abuja, nullifying his candidature for the September 2018 governorship election in Osun State, would not stand.
Justice
Othman Musa of the FCT High Court in Bwari, Abuja, had, on Tuesday,
nullified Adeleke’s nomination by the Peoples Democratic Party for the
last year’s poll.
The judge held that Adeleke was not qualified
to run for the office of a governor, not being, allegedly, educated up
to secondary school level as required of him under Section 177 of the
Nigerian Constitution.
But, rejecting the judgment in an early
Wednesday’s statement, Adeleke vowed to appeal against it, describing it
as “flawed and a travesty of justice.”
“While we are set to
appeal the judgment, 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 any court,” Adeleke said in the statement.
The
statement titled, ‘Flawed Bwari judgment against Senator Adeleke cannot
stand!’, issued on his behalf in the name of his campaign organisation,
was signed by a lawyer, Niyi Owolade.
Adeleke said the message
which he “received with bewilderment,” “subverted justice by ignoring
four critical evidence to rule against validated facts and submissions.”
Faulting
the judgment, Adeleke said, firstly, there had been “two rulings
delivered in September 2018” which “held that Senator Adeleke satisfied
all requirements of the law to contest for office.”
He stated
that the Tuesday judgment breached the “precept” that “once a court of
coordinate jurisdiction has ruled on a matter, court of similar
jurisdiction cannot entertain it.”
The statement added that the
judge “erred in law by failing to take note of the expiration of 180
days for ruling on pre-election matters.”
It added, “Even when a December 2018 judgment with respect to the issue was presented, the judge chose to ignore it.
“We note that the judge violated the law by adjudicating over a matter whose filing and hearing period had expired.”
Adeleke’s
third reason for faulting the judgment was that the judgment ignored
the evidence produced by the West Africa Examination Council which
listed “all students who sat for the May/June examination in 1981
alongside the senator, in addition to the certified true copies of his
school certificate result.”
The statement said, “From the
evidence produced by the Council, it is crystal clear that Senator
Ademola Adeleke was, indeed, educated beyond the minimum requirement of
‘up to secondary school level’ as stipulated by law and therefore
qualified to run for the office of governor in accordance with Section
177 (D) of 1999 CFRN (as amended). Not withstanding, the judge still
went ahead to rule otherwise.
“The only statutory body empowered
by law to determine authenticity of a secondary school results is the
West African Examination Council and they confirmed the authenticity of
Senator Adeleke’s result by producing a CTC of the same result. What
evidence did the judge therefore base his ruling on?”
Lastly,
Adeleke said, the judge was wrong to conclude that he forged the senior
secondary school statement of result which he submitted to the
Independent National Electoral Commission.
Adeleke explained that
having been shocked by the evidence produced by WAEC showing that he
sat for the May/June 1981 examinations, the plaintiffs, again, went on
to have the principal of the school to appear in court to confirm the
authenticity of the statement of results.
He said, “The principal
appeared and confirmed that the statement was genuinely issued by the
school and that any error noticed on the statement was that of the
school, not that of Senator Adeleke. The school did not, at any point,
disown the statement of results.”
He said the school “owned up to the error, which was not about forgery.”
He
said, “From the foregoing, we affirm that the judgment of the Bwari
court is a travesty of justice, a purchased ruling designed to
negatively affect the outcome of Osun governorship judicial process.
“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 any way, stop the reality that
Senator Ademola Adeleke fulfilled constitutional requirements to be
Governor of Osun State.
“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 and enemies of democracy.
Senator
Ademola Adeleke is not only qualified but by the grace of God will soon
be sworn in as the legitimate Governor of Osun State.”
Source:- Punchng
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