A federal High Court sitting in Osogbo yesterday, dismissed an application brought by some persons seeking to be joined as parties in a case filed by a factional candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the July 16 governorship election in Osun State.
The plaintiff is Dotun Babayemi, while the PDP, Independent National Electoral Commission and Senator Ademola Adeleke are the defendants. The trial judge, N. Ayo-Emmanuel, adjourned the matter till Wednesday, May 18, 2022, for judgment. In the suit, the plaintiff is challenging the nomination and submission of Adeleke’s name by the PDP to INEC and the validity of the governorship primary election conducted at the stadium as against the authenticated delegates who voted at the party’s primary as ordered by the court.
It would be recalled that an Osun State High Court, sitting in Ijebu-Jesa, had on March 3, 2022, authenticated the ward congress that produced 215 delegates under the then state chairman. Also, on March 10, 2022, the same court pronounced that the PDP governorship primary election that produced Babayemi as the gubernatorial candidate was the legally recognised because the delegates that voted for him were the ones backed by the law.