The battle for the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the July governorship election in Osun State has taken a new turn as one of the aspirants for the ticket, former Secretary to the State Government, Modhood Adeoti, has approached the court, asking that the victory of the incumbent governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, at the primary election be nullified.
Adeoti, who lost to Governor Oyetola in the primary election last weekend, has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to declare him winner of the shadow poll.
Recall that in the direct primary conducted by a committee, chaired by the governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRasak, Oyeyola polled 222,169 votes to beat Adeoti, who scored 12,921 votes and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yusuff Lasun, who got 460 votes.
Adeoti enjoy the support of the Minister of Interior and former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola.
Recall also that the plaintiff’s supporters had previously challenged the outcome of the ward and local government congresses in court at Osogbo and Ikire, where the cases were thrown out.
Many stakeholders of the party in the state had lauded Governor AbdulRasak for conducting a free, fair and transparent exercise.
AbdulRazaq had allowed the aspirants to crosscheck the party membership register, before the commencement of the poll, to allay any fear of exclusion of their supporters from the register and from voting.
The voting, sorting, counting and poll announcement was also transparent.
Civil society groups who monitored the exercise had urged other parties and states to learn from the Osun experience.
Adeoti is praying the court to declare him as the validly nominated candidate.
He further prayed the court to declare that Oyetola was not qualified to contest under the party’s constitution, because he is an officer of the party.
Among other reliefs, he also seeking an order directing the APC to forward his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as the validly nominated candidate, rather than Oyetola.
Adeoti sought these reliefs in his originating summons, in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/203, and filed by his counsel, Chiesonu Okpoko, SAN.
The first, second and third respondents, the APC, Oyetola and INEC, respectively, are yet to respond to the suit.
At the primary poll, Oyetola had swept all the 30 local government areas and Ife-East Area Office.
Adeoti raised seven questions for determination in the suit, to challenge Oyetola’s victory.
He contended, among others, that by virtue of his appointment by the APC’s National Executive Committee, NEC, as a member of the party’s Caretaker Extraordinary and Convention Planning Committee, CECPC, Oyetola is an officer of the party.
He averred that Oyetola ought to have resigned his membership of the CECPC and leave office as an officer of the party, at least 30 days prior to the date of the primary to qualify for participation in the primary.
The former SSG argued that this “refusal and/or neglect to resign his membership of the CECPC, disqualified him as a candidate in the primary.”
He further sought 12 reliefs from the court, including: “A declaration that by virtue of Article 2 of the 1st Defendant’s Constitution (October 2014 as amended), the decisions of the CECPC or any of its organs or any committee set up by it, cannot override the provisions of the 1st defendant’s Constitution; a declaration that by the combined effect of section 222 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Article 31 (1li) of the 1st defendant’s (October 2014 as amended), the 2nd defendant ought to have resigned his membership of the CECPC and leave office as an officer of the 1st defendant at least 30 days prior to the date of the 1st Ddfendant’s Osun State primary election to qualify for participation in the sald 1st defendant’s primary election.”
Other reliefs include: “a declaration that by virtue of the Oyetola’s failure to resign or leave his office as a member of the CECPC at least 30 days before the primary he was “disqualified from contesting in the said primary election of 19th February, 2022; a declaration that Oyetola having participated in the primary ‘is a grave violation or breach of the principle of audi alterem partem and Nemo judex in causa sua’; a declaration that the 2nd defendant is disqualified from contesting as an aspirant in the 1st defendant’s Osun State governorship primary of 19th February, 2022 in Osun State.”
Other reliefs sought by the plaintiff from the court were: “a declaration that all the votes cast in favour of the 2nd defendant in the 1st defendant’s Osun State governorship primary of 19th February, 2022 are invalid and/or throw away votes and/or wasted votes, the 2nd defendant being unqualified to contest in the said primaries; an order restraining the 1st defendant from sending the name of the 2nd defendant to the 3rd defendant as a candidate in the 1st defendant’s governorship primary of 19th February, 2022 in Osun State; an order restraining the 1st and 3rd defendants from recognizing the 2nd defendant as the winner of 1st defendant’s governorship primary of 19th February, 2022 in Osun State; an order declaring the plaintiff as the validly nominated candidate of the 1st defendant, having polled the highest number of lawful votes cast in the 1st defendant’s Osun State governorship primary of 19th February, 2022; and an order directing the 1st defendant to forward the name of the plaintiff to the 3rd defendant as the validly nominated candidate of the Ist defendant, having polled the highest number of lawful votes cast in the Ist defendant’s Osun State governorship primary of 19th February, 2022.”
