Days after the Osun State Election Tribunal declared him winner of the 2018 governorship election in Osun State, a High Court sitting in Abuja today nullified the nomination of Senator Ademola Adeleke as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The ruling, following a case filed by two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Wahab Raheem and Adam Habeeb, had to do with alleged certificate forgery as they accused Adeleke of not possessing requisite Secondary School Certificate to vie for governor.
The plaintiffs, who prayed the court for an order to disqualify Adeleke from participating in the election, got their wish as Justice Oathman Musa delivered jugment today.
While pronouncing the annulment of Adeleke’s nomination, the judge held that Adeleke’s action contravened Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, stipulating that a candidate vying for the governor must boast at least education up to secondary school level.
According to Justice Musa, records showed that Adeleke began secondary school in 1976 but there is no record to that he actually completed his studies as his name is not available in the school’s register from 1980.
The judge further pronounced the result Adeleke attached to his form CF001 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as fake, since it was different from that presented to the court by Principal of Ede Muslim High School in Osun State.