Why Appeal Court dismissed judgement nullifying Adeleke’s candidacy

- The Court of Appeal in Abuja has cancelled the judgment of the High Court of the FCT given by Justice Othman Musa, which voided Adeleke’s candidacy for Osun election

- The appellate court faulted the decision of the FCT High Court which, it said, appeared to have been given without due consideration to the principal’s testimony

- According to the Court of Appeal, Adeleke’s objection amounted to a challenge of the court’s jurisdiction, which could be brought up at any time

The Court of Appeal, Abuja division, has disclosed that the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun state, Ademola Adeleke’s certificate proved that he had met the constitutional requirements for the elections.

Adeleke earlier challenged the April 2, 2019 judgment by Justice Othman Musa of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Bwari, which voided Adeleke’s candidacy for the election on the grounds that he was not qualified, having not possessed valid secondary school certificate.

Premium Times reports that the appellate court faulted the decision of the FCT High Court which, it said, appeared to have been given without due consideration to the principal’s testimony.

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In a judgement read by Justice Emanuel Agim, a three-member panel of the appellate court ruled that the suit which gave rise to the FCT High court judgement against Adeleke’s candidacy was fundamentally defective and should not have been heard, in the first place.

According to the Court of Appeal, Adeleke’s objection amounted to a challenge of the court’s jurisdiction, ”which could be brought up at any time.”

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Agim said: “The trial court was wrong to have dismissed the applicant’s objection at the lower court. The issue of lack of jurisdiction can be raised at any point even in an appeal before this court or at the Supreme Court for the first time.”

Agim also held that the lower court was wrong to have decided against Adeleke’s submission that the instant case is a pre-election matter.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday, May 30, cancelled the judgment of the High Court of the FCT, given by Justice Othman Musa, which voided Adeleke’s candidacy for Osun election.

In a unanimous judgment by a three-man panel on Thursday, the Court of Appeal held that the FCT High Court was wrong to have concluded that Adeleke did not complete secondary education and that he represented false academic certificate.

The verdict, given by the presiding judge, Justice Emmanuel Agim, faulted the trial court for taking jurisdiction over the case filed by Wahab Raheem and Adam Habeeb outside the two weeks prescribed for pre-election cases by the Nigerian constitution.

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