Adeleke Finally Gets Supreme Court’s Nod As Osun PDP Guber Candidate
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Months after sweeping to victory at the 16 July 2022 gubernatorial election, the Supreme Court has finally upheld the nomination of Osun Governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the governorship primary.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, September 29, 2022, a five-member panel of the apex Court headed by Justice Amina Augie confirmed Adeleke’s candidacy and consequently dismissed the appeal by Oyedotun Babayemi on the grounds that it was filed out of time.
Babayemi had in his appeal urged the Supreme Court to set aside the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and declare him as the authentic PDP candidate for the July governorship election in Osun State.
In the apex court’s lead ruling on Thursday, Justice Augie held that by the provision of Section 285(11) of the Constitution, an appeal on a pre-election matter must be filed within 14 days from the day of the decision.
Justice Augie added that the appellant, having filed his notice of appeal out of time, the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the appeal and then proceeded to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
Before the July 16 Osun 2022 governorship election, different primaries produced Babayemi and Adeleke, but the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gave their endorsement to Senator Adeleke as the Party’s authentic flag bearer.
An angry and disappointed Babayemi proceeded to the Federal High Court in Osogbo to challenge Adeleke’s recognition. But in a judgment on May 18, 2022, Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of a Federal High Court, Osogbo ruled in favour of Adeleke.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Babayemi challenged the decision at the Court of Appeal in Akure. And in its judgment on July 20, 2022, the Court of Appeal affirmed the Federal High Court’s verdict by dismissing Babayemi’s appeal, a development that prompted his decision to approach the Supreme Court for a possible reprieve.
