Why PDP lost the bid to annul Oyetola’s candidacy

The Supreme Court has explained why it rejected an appeal filed by the People’s Democratic Party to annul former Osun state governor Gboyega Oyetola in the July 16, 2022 gubernatorial election.

A five-member panel led by Judge Chima Nweze on Thursday said the lawsuit was dismissed as lacking merit and forced PDP lawyer, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN to withdraw it.

The PDP had prayed to the apex court to uphold and reinstate the verdict of the Federal Supreme Court in Abuja, overturning the nomination of Oyetola and his deputy, Alabi, as the APC’s standard bearers for the governorship election.

Federal Supreme Court Judge Emeka Nwite had invalidated the participation of Oyetola and Alabi on the grounds that their nomination forms had been approved by acting APC chairman and serving governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni.

In the lawsuit titled “FHC/ABJ/CS/468/2022, the court found that Buni acted in violation of the provision of Article 183 of the Constitution when he held dual executive positions as the governor and chairman of the National Caretaker Committee from APC.

“It held that Buni submitting the name of Oyetola and that of his deputy to the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, was in breach of the provisions of Article 183 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Article 82(3) of the Electoral Act , 2022 and that the decision amounted to nullity by operation of law.

“The party, through its team of lawyers led by Dr Abiodun Layonu SAN, APC, argued that the Supreme Court ruling was perverse and led to a serious miscarriage of justice, and appealed to the Court of Appeal in December last year and obtained an injunction that overturned the Supreme Court’s verdict. The party argued that the PDP did not have the legal standing required to bring the action.

“The Appellant further maintained that PDP was denied the legal right to interfere in the internal affairs of another political party.

“The APC argued, among other things, that under Section 84(14) of the 2022 Electoral Act, only an aspirant who participated in the primaries in which Governor Oyetola and his deputy stood could complain that the selection and nomination of a candidate for an election was not to the law or election guidelines of the political party.”

It maintained that Article 284(14)(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, allowed a political party to challenge the action of the electoral body INEC only if it failed to comply with the provision of the law regarding the nomination of its candidates.

Convinced, the Supreme Court verdict was thereafter vacated by the Court of Appeal and then upheld by the Supreme Court.