Osun Governorship Tussle: PDP Goofs Over Appeal Panel Membership

•Osun APC Reacts

By Sola Jacobs

The Court of Appeal has described the alleged inclusion of Justice Joseph Oyewole in the Appeal Panel hearing the Osun Governorship election dispute as desperation of jittery individuals whose action is to heat up the polity.

This is in reaction to the position of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which rejected “the inclusion of Hon. Justice J.O.K Oyewole as a member of the Osun State Governorship Election Appeal Tribunal”.

The Court of Appeal Media Officer, Mrs. Sa’adatu Musa Kachalla in a statement said, Justice Oyewole was not at any point a member of the Governorship Election Appeal Tribunal.

According to the statement, “Hon. Justice Joseph Oyewole, Justice of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, an industrious son of Osun State, is not a member of the Osun Governorship Election Appeal Tribunal set up by the President of the Court of Appeal who had earlier said that the court must always put her integrity on the front burner.

“Members of the public are therefore advised not to be misguided by desperate and jittery individuals whose action is to heat up the polity.

“Time has changed, and it is better for us to change with time. The era of fake News is over”, it read.

The PDP had in a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary, said “the position of the party is predicated on the fact that Hon. Justice Oyewole has strong connections with the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is an interested party in the appeal.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun said the PDP was only circulating false, scandalous and defamatory stories against Justice of the appeal court in the country.

In a statement by the party’s Director of Publicity, Kunle Oyatomi in Osogbo said, the PDP leadership should “cultivate some responsible decorum in its political engagement, which appears to be deteriorating by the day”.

The APC decried what it described as “the PDP’s penchant for lies, disinformation and incitement to violence” that has allegedly become the party’s trademark in Osun.

According to the APC, “it is totally irresponsible for the PDP and its minions to so unjustly and viciously defame, as well as cast scurrilous aspersion on a judge of the Court of Appeal for no just reason whatsoever”.

The APC argued that it would appear that “the PDP’s comfort zone in Osun is to hide behind a mountain of lies and subterfuge to scandalize people of integrity and create an atmosphere of confusion in order to incite violence.

The party said, “it is time the PDP is held accountable for their disruptive approach to politics that threatens social order and peace.”