The Supreme Court has fixed judgment for July 5, 2019 in the appeals filed by Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in respect of the dispute over the last governorship election in Osun State.
A seven-man panel of the court, led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad chose the date after taking final arguments in respect of the main appeal, marked: SC/553/2019 filed by Adeleke.
Other members of the panel are: Justices Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Kumai Aka’ahs, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Amiru Sanusi, Paul Galunmje and Uwani Abbah-Aji
Adeleke, who filed four appeals, is challenging the May 9, 2019 judgments of the Court of Appeal, Abuja which affirmed the election of Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor of Osun State.
The Court of Appeal also set aside the majority judgment of the election tribunal which had allowed Adeleke’s petition and declared him winner of the election.
On Monday, by agreement of lawyers in the appeals, the court took submissions from Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) for the appellants and Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for the 1st respondent (Oyetola) in respect of appeal marked: SC/553/2019.
The court said its judgment in the main appeal – SC/553/2019 – will be applied to two other similar ones filed by Adeleke against the Court of Appeal’s decision in relation to the appeals filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC.
The court, which stood down proceedings for a while, is expected to resume soon to take the last fourth appeal by Adeleke, marked: SC/556/2019.
At the proceedings, the appellants’ lawyer, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), urged the apex court to uphold his clients’ appeal, upturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal and affirm that of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which had upturned Oyetola’s election and declared Adeleke as the true winner of the poll.
But Oyetola’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun, urged the court to dismiss the appeal and affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
Counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr. Yusuf Ali (SAN), and that for the APC, Olumide Olujinmi, also urged the apex court to dismiss the appeal.
The appellants are by their appeal challenging the May 9, 2019 majority judgment of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal which affirmed Oyetola’s victory at the September 2018 poll.
Dissatisfied with INEC’s declaration of Oyetola as the winner of the September 2018 governorship election, Adeleke and the PDP had filed a petition praying for an order nullifying the election and declaring them as the winner.
By a split decision of two-to-one, the three-man tribunal had in its verdict delivered on March 22, 2019 nullified the election of Oyetola and his party and declared Adeleke and his PDP as the duly elected.
But, on May 9, 2019, the Court of Appeal, in a four-to-one split decision of its five-man panel led by Justice Jummai Sankey, nullified the majority verdict of the tribunal.
Justice Sankey along with three other members of the panel, Justices Abubakar Yahaya, Isaiah Akeju, and Bitrus Sanga, adopted the majority judgments on the three appeals which went in favour of the APC and its candidate.
But another member of the panel, Justice George Mbaba, dissented from the majority judgments in the three appeals.
Justice Mbaba, went on to dismiss the three appeals filed by Oyetola, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission and upheld the majority judgment of the tribunal which declared Adeleke and the PDP as the true winner.
Both PDP and Adeleke appealed to the Supreme Court against the majority decision of the Court of Appeal.
The Nation/Punch
