The Supreme Court on Thursday denied an appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, seeking to reinstate the nullification of former Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola and his Deputy, Benedict Alabi, from the July 16, 2022 gubernatorial election.
On September 30, 2022, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that Oyetola and Alabi’s participation in the governorship election was invalidated because their nomination forms were endorsed by an acting Chairman of the APC who was also a serving Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni.
In December last year, the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned Justice Nwite’s verdict, which the PDP appealed to the Supreme Court.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, chaired by Justice Centus Nweze, ruled on Thursday morning that the PDP’s appeal was without merit and ordered the party’s counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), to drop it.
The court ruled that the PDP could not challenge the procedures that led to the selection of Oyetola and Alabi as APC candidates in the election under the law.
