BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms Ademola Adeleke’s election

The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed Osun State Governor-elect Senator Ademola Adeleke as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the July 16 governorship election in the state.

The apex court struck out Dotun Babayemi’s prayers, asking it to set aside the decisions of the lower courts and declare him as the PDP candidate for the governorship election in Osun State.

Justice Amina Augie who read the unanimous judgement on behalf of the five-man panel, said the appeal had run out of time, being a pre-election matter.

She said “a pre-election matter has a period of 14 days, and like a rock of Gibraltar, cannot be moved”, going on to dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction.

Adeleke and Babayemi had emerged candidates of the PDP in separate primaries held in the state, but Adeleke was recognised by the National Working Committee of the party, going on to win the election.

Babayemi challenged the recognition of Adeleke as the candidate of the party before the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal Court but lost and he approached the Supreme Court.

In his judgment on the matter on May 18, Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of a Federal High Court, sitting in Osogbo, upheld the governorship primary that produced Adeleke.

Also, the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, in its judgment of July 20 on the appeal filed against the decision of the Federal High Court, Osogbo, aligned with the lower court and dismissed Babayemi’s appeal.

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