The Supreme Court has upheld the nomination of Osun State Governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke, as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the last governorship election.
In a judgment yesterday, a five-member Justices of the apex court, headed by Justice Amina Augie, dismissed the appeal filed by Oyedotun Babayemi on the grounds that it was filed out of time.
Babayemi had, by his appeal, prayed the court to set aside the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and declare him the actual candidate of the PDP for the July 16, 2023 governorship election held in Osun State.
In the apex court’s lead judgment, Justice Augie held that by the provision of Section 285(11) of the Constitution, an appeal on a pre-election matter must be filed within 14 days from the day of the decision.
She held that since the appellant filed his notice of appeal out of time, the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the appeal.
Justice Augie thus dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
Before the July 16, 2022 governorship election in Osun State, different primaries produced Babayemi and Adeleke, but PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognised Adeleke as the authentic candidate of the party.
Babayemi went to the Federal High Court in Osogbo to challenge Adeleke’s recognition.
In a judgment on May 18, Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of a Federal High Court in Osogbo ruled in favour of Adeleke, a decision Babayemi appealed at the Court of Appeal in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The Court of Appeal, in its judgment of July 20, affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court and dismissed Babayemi’s appeal, promoting him to approach the Supreme Court.
Also, there was heavy security in Osogbo, the state capital, ahead of the Supreme Court judgment.
The popular Ola-Iya junction had police, soldiers, traditional hunters, members of Amotekun corps and other security agencies.
They stationed their patrol vehicles under the flyover at the popular junction in readiness for any breach of the peace.
Over 100 security operatives were on standby in the area, displaying show of strength yesterday before they finally took positions at Ola-Iya, Old Garage (motor park) and Oke-Fia junctions.
Speaking with The Nation, a top security source said: “We manned the flashpoints across the state because of the Supreme Court judgment on Adeleke and Babayemi holding in Abuja today.
“We are on the ground to prevent likely breakdown of law and order.”
Also, the Osun State chapter of the PDP has suspended Babayemi.
The party also hailed the Judiciary for upholding Adeleke’s candidacy and dismissing Babayemi’s appeal.