OSUN DECISIONS: Why didn’t the court disqualify Oyetola?

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports.

The Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday refused to disqualify Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola from running for governor as an All Progressives Congress, APC candidate tomorrow.

According to Justice Inyang Ekwo’s decision, the suit seeking to invalidate Oyetola’s nomination as APC flag-bearer lacked merit and should be dismissed.

Moshood Adeoti, a disgruntled party aspirant, filed the suit, which was labeled FHC/ABJ/CS/203/2022.

Adeoti had challenged Oyetola’s election as APC governorship candidate, claiming that he had not been properly nominated.

He claimed the governor illegally ran for governor while serving on the APC’s Caretaker Extraordinary and Convention Planning Committee, or CECPC.

The Plaintiff claimed that by allowing the Defendant to run for re-election while still serving as a committee member, the APC violated Section 22(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 31(iii) of its own Constitution.

Adeoti maintained, through his legal team led by Chiesonu Okpoko, SAN, that Governor Oyetola should have resigned his membership on the said committee at least 30 days before the February 19 primary election.

As a result, he petitioned the court to declare Oyetola’s candidacy null and void.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, filed preliminary objections to the suit, claiming that it was without merit.

The APC also questioned the court’s authority to intervene in a political party’s domestic affairs.

Yesterday, Justice Ekwo ruled that the Plaintiff had failed to establish a plausible cause of action to justify Oyetola’s disqualification.

The court ruled that the suit, which it called an abuse of the legal system, was not supported by relevant laws and fell outside the scope of Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act and Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

It emphasized that the Plaintiff failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism before filing the action.

The court also stated that the CECPC, of which governor Oyetola was a member, was an ad hoc body rather than the APC’s substantive National Executive Committee, NEC, as recognized by the party’s Constitution.

Justice Ekwo stated that the CECPC was merely an ad hoc body formed in the absence of the legally recognized NEC, even though he agreed that the issue of nomination of candidates for elective offices is an internal matter between parties that no court can inquire into except where expressly stated by law.

He was perplexed as to why Adeoti went to court after fully participating in the said primary election, scoring some votes, and losing to Oyetola.

As a result, the court dismissed the suit for failing to state a cause of action against the Defendants.

“I hereby decline jurisdiction over a political party’s internal affairs.” When a party member is dissatisfied with a decision made by the party, the only option is for that person to leave.

“I hold that the plaintiff has failed to establish a cause of action in this case.” As a result, this lawsuit has been dismissed as an abuse of the legal system.”