An Abuja high court has nullified the nomination of Senator Ademola Adeleke as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the September 2018 governorship election in Osun state.
The order was made on the grounds that senator Adeleke did not possess the requisite educational qualification to run for the office of Governor.
In a suit instituted by Wahab Raheem and Adam Habeeb, praying for an order to disqualify Mr Adeleke from participating in the Sept 22 governorship election in the state on the grounds that he did not possess the requisite educational qualification.
The plaintiffs through their counsel, Bankole Akomolafe, on September 11 claimed that the PDP candidate did not sit for the WAEC examination in 1981 because the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination had not been introduced in the country at that time.
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) during the court’s proceedings confirmed that Mr Adeleke sat for the May/June examination of the council in 1981.
The confirmation was contained in a four paragraph affidavit filed in compliance with the order of Justice Oathman Musa requesting the examination body to confirm whether the governorship candidate sat for the 1981 exams.
Delivering judgment in the suit, Justice Othman Musa annulled Senator Adeleke’s nomination on the grounds that he offended section 177 of the 1999 constitution as amended.
The section stipulated that candidates for the position of governor must be educated up to secondary school level.
According to Justice Musa, while the court’s findings showed that Adeleke got admitted to secondary school in 1976, there was no record to show that he actually graduated as his name was no longer seen in the school’s register from 1980.
Justice Musa further stated that the result Mr Adeleke attached to his form CF001 which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was fake, as it was found to be different from the one presented to the court by the principal of Ede Muslim High School, Ede, Osun State.
Counsel to Mr Adeleke , Nathaniel Oke has faulted the judgment of the court on the grounds that the judge erred in law by going out of his way to source for evidence to arrive at his “unjust conclusion”.
He submitted that the court erred particularly when it ignored WAEC evidence that Mr Adeleke was educated up to Secondary School level as required by law.
He disclosed that they will immediately commence filing of their appeal against the Judgment.
