JUSTICE David Oladimeji of the Osun state High court sitting in Osogbo Wednesday dismissed a suit challenging the eligibility of Senator Ademola Adeleke as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the September 22nd governorship election in the State.
The plaintiffs, Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu who are members of PDP in Osun had approached the court to disqualified Senator Adeleke on the allegation that he did not possess Certificate and urged the court to restrain PDP from presenting him to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the candidate of the party.
They also urged the court to restrain INEC from accepting Adeleke from PDP as its candidate on the basis that the Senator was not qualified, quoting Section 177 (d) of the 1999 Constitution.
In his ruling yesterday, Justice Oladimeji held that the claims of the plaintiffs that Adeleke does not possess school certificate cannot disqualify him from contesting the election because the constitution does not state that a candidate for the office of the governor must possess a secondary school certificate.
Justice Oladimeji said the constitution only stipulated that the candidate must be educated up to secondary school level and that the plaintiff also admitted that the Senator attended Ede Grammar School.
The judge while striking out the case said that whether Adeleke obtained a certificate or not cannot be used to disqualify him from the race adding that the fact that he attended the school is enough for him to contest.
The counsel to the plaintiffs, Mr Olufemi Ayandokun commended the judge for the judgement.
Also, counsels to Adeleke and PDP, Edmund Biriomoni and Taofeeq Olayiwola lauded the judge for the judgement.
