A Federal High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti on Thursday dismissed a suit filed by an aspirant in the January 27 governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress Engr. Kayode Ojo, challenging the victory of the Governor-elect, Biodun Oyebanji.
The court upheld preliminary objection of the counsel to Oyebanji, Mr. Kabir Akingbolu, that the writ of summons and statement of claims of Ojo were defective which dealt a fatal blow to the case.
Ojo, who emerged first runner in the APC primary poll, had approached the court to challenge the exercise, faulting the use of individuals he described as political appointees as electoral officers.
He urged the court to nullify the party’s governorship primary on the grounds of alleged violation of the APC constitution and order for conduct of a fresh primary.
The APC was the 1st Defendant while Oyebanji, who went ahead to win the June 18 governorship poll, is the 2nd Defendant in the suit.
Other defendants in the suit are the Independent National Electoral Commission (3rd), Ayo Adegbite (4th), Adeoye Aribasoye (5th), Vincent Bewaji (6th), Goke Olajide (7th), Lateef Akanle (8th), Richard Apolola (9th), Kayode Fasakin (10th), Adu Joseph (11th) and Teju Okuyiga (12th).
The rest defendants are Olumide Fadipe (13th), Dele Oloje (14th), Victor Adeniyi (15th), Folorunso Olabode (16th), Deji Ajayi (17th), Sunkanmi Onipede (18th), Kemi Olaleye (19th) and the Secretary and Members of the Ekiti APC 2022 Gubernatorial Primary Electoral Committee (20th).
Read Also: Lalong meets Benue APC gov candidate
The 4th-19th defendants served as Chairmen of the Electoral Committees/Returning Officers in the 16 Local Government Areas during the Ekiti APC Governorship Primary held across the state.
Delivering the judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Babs Kuewumi, dismissed Ojo’s case and agreed with the Oyebanji’s counsel that the discrepancies in the originating processes had rendered the case mere academic.
Justice Kuewumi held that the names of counsel on the Plaintiff’s originating summons and statement and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) stamp ran contrary which is against the law rendering the suit defective and incompetent.
