The Osun State High Court presided over by Justice David Oladimeji today dismissed a suit challenging the eligibility of Senator Ademola Adeleke as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the September 22nd governorships election in the State.
The plaintiffs, Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu who are members of PDP in Osun had claimed that Senator Adeleke did not possess Certificate and urged the court to restrain PDP from presenting him to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as candidate of the party.
They also urged court to restrain INEC from accepting Adeleke from PDP as its candidate on the basis that the Senator was not qualified, quoting Section 177 (d) of the 1999 Constitution.
In his ruling today, the judged said the claims of the plaintiffs that Adeleke does not possess school certificate cannot disqualify him from contesting the election because the constitution does not states that a candidate for the office of the governor must possess a certificate.
Justice Oladimeji said the constitution only stipulated that the candidate must be educated up to secondary school level and that the plaintiff also admitted that the Senator attended Ede Grammar School.
The judge struck out the case saying that whether Adeleke obtained a certificate or not cannot be used to disqualify him and that the fact that he attended the school is enough for him to contest.
The counsel to the plaintiffs, Mr Olufemi Ayandokun commended the judge for the judgement. Also, counsels to Adeleke and PDP, Edmund Biriomoni and Taofeeq Olayiwola lauded the judge for the judgement.
