Osun Governor, Adeleke, commends Buhari over Electoral Act

The Governor of the state of Osun, Ademola Adeleke, has praised President Muhammadu Buhari for paving the way for free and fair elections that ensured he emerged victorious at the polls.

Governor Adeleke said this when he came to the Presidential Villa to see President Buhari for the first time after he emerged governor at the July 16 Governorship election.

Governor Adeleke commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing into law the electoral act amendment bill 2022 which he insists enhanced the credibility of the election that gave him victory.

Mr Adeleke got 403,371 votes to defeat Mr Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress who got 375,027 votes in the July 16 governorship election of the state.

COURT DISMISSES PDP’S SUIT SEEKING DISQUALIFICATION OF TINUBU, SHETTIMA

OC:

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has dismissed a suit by the Peoples Democratic Party, seeking the disqualification of Bola Tinubu and his vice, Kassim Shettima, from the 2023 general elections.

Delivering judgment, Justice Ekwo, dismissed the suit on the ground that the PDP lacked locus standi to institute the suit.

Justice Inyang Ekwo held that the case was caught by the principle of issue estoppel, and described the suit as an abuse of the court process.

In its Originating Summons, the PDP challenged the validity of Bola Tinubu to contest for the 2023 presidential election as APC candidate on the ground that Mr Shettima’s nomination as his running mate was in breach of the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The PDP argued that Mr Shettima’s nomination to contest the position of vice president and Borno Central Senatorial seat contravened the law.

The PDP, which sought an order disqualifying the APC, Tinubu and Shettima from contesting the presidential election scheduled for Feb. 25, also sought an order nullifying their candidacy.

It further sought an order compelling INEC to remove their names from its list of nominated or sponsored candidates eligible to contest the poll.

But the defendants, in their preliminary objection, urged the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction.

They argued that the PDP lacked the locus standi (legal right) to file the case, which invariably was challenging the political party’s decision and its nomination of candidates for the polls.

They further submitted that such an act was an internal affair of APC which they argued was non-justiciable.

Justice Ekwo agreed with the defendants that the PDP had no locus standi to file the matter.

According to him, where there is no locus, the court has no jurisdiction.