Appeal court affirms Adeleke as Osun PDP guber candidate, as INEC issues his certificate of return

The court of appeal in Akure, Ondo state, has dismissed a suit filed by Dotun Babayemi, governorship hopeful of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), against Ademola Adeleke, the governor-elect of Osun state who was presented with a certificate of return by INEC on Wednesday.

Babayemi had taken Adeleke before a federal high court in Osogbo, seeking to be declared as the PDP candidate for the July 16 governorship election in Osun state.

Two factions of the party had on March 8, 2021, conducted separate governorship primaries featuring Adeleke and Babayemi.

Babayemi was declared the winner of the primary election held at the Children and Women Development Centre in Osogbo, while the primary election held at Osogbo City Stadium and backed by the PDP national working committee produced Adeleke.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Adeleke later recognised Adeleke as the duly-elected candidate of the PDP in the governorship election in the state.

In a judgment delivered on May 18, Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel, the judge, held that the primary election conducted at the WOCDIF Centre, Osogbo, on March 8, which produced Babayemi is null and void.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Babayemi filed a suit at the court of appeal, Akure, challenging the judgment of the lower court and seeking to be declared as the PDP governorship candidate.

The court of appeal in its judgment upheld the verdict of the high court and consequently dismissed Babayemi’s appeal.

INEC on Sunday declared Adeleke the winner of Osun governorship election.

He secured 403, 371 votes to defeat Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 375,027 votes.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday issued a certificate of return to Ademola Adeleke, governor-elect of Osun and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).