Two delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State have filed a fresh suit against the candidature of Senator Ademola Adeleke in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Mr Olagboye Adedamola and Mr Oyetunji Suredi filed the suit on Tuesday at the Osun State High Court in Osogbo, over the testimonial and statement of result presented by the lawmaker to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which they claimed were fake documents.
The applicants premised their suit on Section 31 (5) and (6) of the Electoral Act 2010 which gave powers to individuals to challenge in court, any candidate who they suspected to have presented fake documents or false affidavits to the electoral body.
They also dragged to the court INEC, PDP, the state chairman of the party, Soji Adagunodo, and the State Executive Council members.
At the hearing of the matter before the state vacation judge, Justice Oladimeji, the plaintiffs asked for an abridged date for the respondents to appear after the service within seven days, instead of 21 days and the court order to allow them to advertise all their applications in the national dailies.
The court after the submission of the plaintiffs’ counsel, Abdulrahman Okunade, granted the two prayers.
In the new suit attached with seven exhibits and a 37-paragraph affidavit, the plaintiffs sought for seven reliefs and asked the court to disqualify Senator Adeleke from contesting the September 22 poll as the PDP candidate.
They specifically asked the court to bar the lawmaker from the poll “on account of ineligibility, false information, and submission of false documents” to INEC, the fourth defendant in the suit.
The delegates, however, urged the court to declare the first runner-up in the PDP primary conducted on July 21, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, as the party’s lawful candidate in the election.
Earlier, Senator Adeleke was embroiled in certificate scandal with two members of the PDP, Rasheed Olatunji and Idowu Oluwaseun, who went to court to challenge him to present his credentials, citing section 177 (d) of the Nigeria Constitution.
Already, the court presided over by Justice David Oladimeji had fixed August 8 for final judgment in the case.
