Governor Oyetola appeals judgement nullifying his candidacy in Osun governorship election

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State has appealed the Federal High Court judgement which nullified his nomination as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the July 16, 2022 governorship election in the state on grounds of Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe, who submitted their names to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), violating the provisions of Section 183 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The Osun state Governor and his deputy, Benedict Alabi, also filed an application before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stay execution of the court judgment pending the final determination of the appeal.

The politicians who claimed the decision of the Federal High Court was against the weight of evidence and constitutes a grave miscarriage of justice, asked the Court of Appeal to set aside the ruling of the lower court and affirm their nominations as valid and lawful.

They also argued that all the actions taken by Buni in respect of their nominations were valid and legally cognizable as it was in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

The politicians who also stressed that setting up of the defunct Caretaker Committee/Extra-ordinary Planning Committee by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party did not violate provision of the Constitution and Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, argued that the PDP lacked the locus to commence the legal action against Governor Oyetola as the issue of nomination of candidate was an internal affair of political parties, hence not PDP’s business.