The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September 2018 gubernatorial election in Osun State, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, told the Court of Appeal in Abuja that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to qualify to contest the gubernatorial election was not a forgery; pleading with the appellate court to dismiss the judgment of Justice Othman Musa of an Abuja High Court which held that his certificate was forged as alleged by two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In the final adoption of his brief of argument by his lawyer, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), Adeleke told the three-man panel of the court presided by Justice Adamu Jauro, that the certificate attached to his nomination form CF 001 was lawfully issued to him and confirmed by WAEC in its affidavit evidence submitted to the Federal Capital (Territory FCT) High Court. He said what he presented to INEC to secure qualification for the election was exactly what WAEC presented before the lower court when it was ordered to do so by Justice Musa; saying the results, scores and content in both certificates are the same; the only difference was the format it was presented.
Adeleke further told the appellate court that Justice Musa erred in law when it ignored the document he ordered to be presented before him in reaching his decision that Adeleke did not possess the requisite academic qualification for the office of governor, adding that there was no case of non-qualification or forgery against Adeleke before the lower court. He consequently urged the Appeal Court to set aside the judgment of the lower court and dismiss the suit for being incompetent and lacking in merit.
Similarly, the PDP, in its own appeal argued by Emmanuel Enoidem, urged the appellate court to dismiss the suit for being incompetent and statute barred. The PDP legal adviser said the suit flew in the face of the Fourth Alteration Act to the 1999 constitution, having been filed beyond the 14 days allowed by law.
According to Enoidem, the suit was filed 44 days after the cause of action arose, while judgment was delivered outside the 180 days prescribed by law for pre-election matters. The PDP conducted its primaries on July 21, 2018, while the case was filed on September 4, 2018 and judgment delivered on April 2, 2019. The PDP further urged the court to dismiss the judgment of the lower court, because the trial court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit because the cause of action arose in Osun State.
In their own argument, the two APC respondents through their counsel, Joel Akomolafe, appealed to the court to uphold the judgment of the lower court, adding that the appellants did not raise the issue of jurisdiction at the lower court. He said the ruling of the lower court remains valid in as much as it was not appealed against by the appellants. He informed the court that the trial court had dismissed Adeleke and PDP’s motion challenging jurisdiction on the grounds that it was canvassed belatedly.
But Ogunwumiju, replying on point of law, submitted that their appeal covers both the ruling and judgment of the lower court. The three-man panel after taking arguments from the counsel subsequently reserved judgment to a date to be communicated to parties in the matter.
