• Osun gov-elect hails ruling, asks Oyetola to start compiling handover notes
• Jubilation as party bars members from dealing with Babayemi, praises judiciary
The Supreme Court, yesterday, dismissed an appeal filed by Dotun Babayemi against Osun State governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke, challenging Adeleke’s emergence as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the governorship election held on July 16, 2022.
Babayemi had prayed the apex court to set aside the decisions of the lower courts and declare him candidate for the election.
The five-member justices of the apex court, presided by Justice Amina Augie, held that the appeal by the appellant was filed out of time as pre-election matter is time-bound.
The justices in the judgment held that the apex court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit after counsel to the appellant, Adebayo Adelodun (SAN) withdrew the earlier notice of appeal that was filed within time-frame.
At the resumed hearing of the matter, Adelodun, who appeared for the appellant, said that he sought to withdraw the earlier notice of appeal to replace it with the fresh application he filed.
But the panel held that Section 285 (11) of the Constitution stipulated that an appeal on a pre-election matter must be filed within 14 days from the day of the decision and that having filed the second appeal out of time, the apex court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Justice Augie, therefore, dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
REACTING, Adeleke, who hailed the apex court and described his victory as the will of God, asked Governor Gboyega Oyetola to start compiling his handover notes, declaring that the people’s mandate remained sacrosanct.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke embarked on marathon praise songs after his victory and described the outcome of the case as the manifestation of the strong hand of God in his governorship project.
MEANWHILE, members of the PDP in Osogbo, Osun State, yesterday, went into wild jubilation after the judgment.
The State Caretaker Chairman of the party, Dr. Adekunle Akindele, said that Babayemi ceased to be a member of the party and warned members against associating with him. Akindele, in a statement, praised the judiciary for living up to its expectation.
source: Guardian.ng
