An Abuja High Court has knocked off the temporary victory given by the election petition tribunal which declared Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as winner of the 2018 Osun governorship election.
The court nullified his candidature based on a suit filed by Wahab Raheem and Adam Habeeb, two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The duo had sought disqualification of Adeleke over allegations that he did not possess secondary school certificate (SSCE), a prerequisite for an elective position under Section 177 (d) of the 1999 constitution.
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) had confirmed that Adeleke sat for its examination in 1981 in an affidavit provided at the request of the court.
In his ruling, Othman Musa, the presiding judge, said while the court’s findings showed that Adeleke entered secondary school in 1976, there was no record to show that he actually graduated as his name was no longer seen in the school’s register from 1980.
The judge further said the result Adeleke attached to his form CF001 which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was fake as it was different from the one presented to the court by the principal of Ede Muslim High School, Ede, Osun, where Adeleke supposedly graduated from.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel Oke, Adeleke’s lawyer, faulted the judgment of the court and vowed to appeal the ruling in a higher court.
Oke argued that judge erred in law by going out of his way to source evidence to arrive at his “unjust conclusion”, while “ignoring” WAEC evidence that Adeleke possessed the certificate.