THE Federal High Court in Osogbo has affirmed Ademola Adeleke as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the July 16 governorship election in Osun State.
Justice Nathaniel Emmanuel made the declaration on Wednesday while delivering judgment in a suit filed by a factional candidate of the PDP, Dotun Babayemi.
Adeleke had been declared the winner of the governorship primary election of the PDP in Osun State, held at the Osogbo City Stadium.
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Similarly, Babayemi also emerged as the winner of a parallel exercise, held at the WOCDIF Centre, also in the state capital on March 9.
Bayelsa State Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewurujakpo, who presided over the party’s National Congress Committee, announced Adeleke winner with 1,887 votes.
Ewurujakpo denounced the parallel congress where Babayemi was declared winner, saying, “Any other primary held outside this place is invalid and will not be recognised. The crown is here, the palace is here and the authority is here. Any exercise not done here cannot be recognised.”
Babayemi went to court to be recognised as the authentic candidate of the party following the parallel primaries.
He urged his supporters to put aside any fear over the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) recognition of Adeleke as the party’s flagbearer.
However, in his judgment on Wednesday, Justice Nathaniel Emmanuel dismissed Babayemi’s suit.
The judge held that the primary election conducted at the WOCDIF Centre, Osogbo, which produced Babayemi as candidate was null and void.
The court consequently affirmed Adeleke as the validly elected PDP candidate for the governorship poll.
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