A setback has been experienced by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in their bid to prevent the candidacy of Mr Adesoji Adedeji, the Labour Party’s House of Representatives candidate for Ogo Oluwa/Surulere Federal Constituency in Saturday’s National Assembly election. Justice Uche Nma Agomoh of the Federal High Court in Ibadan, on Wednesday, dismissed the suit filed by the APC and three others, seeking to disqualify Adedeji from the election. The suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/1748/22), filed on September 30 by the APC, Ajani Josiah, Chief Adewale Sunday, and Adesiyan Semiu, claimed that Adedeji was nominated by the Labour Party and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in contravention of Sections 30, 34, and 35 of the Electoral Act. They requested that the court instruct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prevent Adesoji from participating in the election, alleging he was nominated by two parties.
Justice Agomoh dismissed the case due to a lack of evidence to support the plaintiffs’ claims and because it was deemed academic, stale, and lacking merit. Adesoji was cleared to contest in the election as the court found that he was validly nominated by the Labour Party. The APC’s request for a declaration that the Labour Party had no candidate in the House of Representatives election, and that the party’s name and logo should be removed from the ballot paper was also refused. The judge agreed with Adesoji’s lawyer, Sunday Aborisade, that the plaintiffs had no right to file the suit because they were not members of the Labour Party. Justice Agomoh referred to them as “meddlesome interlopers and busybodies” who were meddling in matters that did not concern them. The judge also agreed that pre-election matters are sui generis and that the case should have been filed within 14 days of the occurrence of the action the plaintiffs complained of. Additionally, Justice Agomoh awarded a total cost of N100,000 against the APC, to be paid to Adesoji’s counsel, Sunday Aborisade, and the lawyer for the Labour Party, Kehinde Yekini, with N50,000 each.
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