Abuja court judgment on Osun flawed, won’t stand – Adeleke

The Ademola Adeleke Campaign Organisation, in a statement on Wednesday protested “We receive with shock and bewilderment the judgement of a Bwari High Court on the propriety of the statement of results of Senator Ademola Adeleke as a contestant for the governorship of Osun state. The judgement delivered today subverted justice by ignoring four critical evidence to rule against validated facts and submissions.”

The Senator’s campaign organization expressed readiness to appeal the judgement. However, the organization noted that they managers find it compelling to put the records straight by listing out the fatal flaws in the ruling and why it cannot stand before a superior court.

They narrated that the matter in question has been addressed by two High Courts’ ruling which affirmed that in the face of the constitution, Senator Ademola Adeleke is qualified to run for the governorship. They noted that the two rulings delivered in September 2018 held that Senator Adeleke satisfied requirement of the law to contest for office. “It is trite in law that once a court of coordinate jurisdiction has ruled on a matter, court of similar jurisdiction cannot entertain it. Shockingly, the Bwari judge breached this precept to subvert justice,” they argued.

The Campaign managers also stated that the judge erred in law by failing to take note of the expiration of 180 days for ruling on pre-election matters. “Even when a December 2018 judgement with respect to the issue was presented, the judge ignored it. We note that the judge violated the law by adjudicating over a matter whose filing and hearing period has expired,” they said.

They also stated that the West African Examination Council was also summoned by the court at the instance of the plaintiff to present evidence of facts; noting that the council produced the listing of all students who sat for the May/June examination in 1981 alongside the Senator. “The Council produced certified true copies of school results,” they insisted.

They also said that the  Council produced evidence which proved that Senator Ademola Adeleke was, indeed, educated up to secondary school level as stipulated by law and, therefore, qualified to run for the governorship; protesting that the judge still went ahead to rule otherwise. They maintained that WAEC at no point denounced the secondary school qualification of Senator Adeleke. “The only statutory body empowered by law to determine authenticity of a secondary result is the West African Examination Council. The Council not only witnessed in support of Senator Adeleke but also presented certified true copies of his school results. What other evidence the judge needs to rule in favour of the Senator is not clear,” they declared.

The campaign managers further argued that the plaintiff shocked by WAEC testimony, again filed request that the court compelled the school principal to appear in court to produce evidence of facts as well as to confirm the authenticity of the statement of results. They noted that the principal appeared and confirmed that the statement was a product of the school and that any error on the statement was that of the school, not that of Senator Adeleke. “The school did not at any point disown the statement of results. The school owned up to the error which was not about forgery but alleged false information,” they pointed out.

They stated that from the foregoing, they affirmed that “the judgement of the Bwari court is a travesty of justice, a purchased ruling designed to negatively affect the outcome of Osun governorship legal tussle.”

“We declare unequivocally that the ruling is being so glaringly against tested facts and the law cannot stand. It is also clear that the ruling cannot in anyway stop the reality that Ademola Adeleke fulfilled constitutional requirements to stand for the governorship as confirmed by the WAEC, the school principal and previous judgements on the matter,” they insisted.

The Senator’s campaign managers appealed to their supporters and good people of Osun State to remain calm. “This is another failed bid in the efforts of detractors to stop the realisation of Peoples mandate. We are marching ahead as before… our candidate, Ademola Adeleke, is qualified to seek the governorship and before people and God, he is the governor-elect of Osun state,” they declared.