Some senior lawyers have stated that the judgment of Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which nullified the nomination of Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State and his deputy, Benedict Alabi, did not invalidate the candidacy of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Oyetola and Alabi contested the July 16 governorship election on the platform of the APC, the same political party on which platform Tinubu would be contesting the 2023 presidential election.
The judge nullified their nomination on the ground that Governor Mai Buni, who submitted their names to the Independent National Electoral Commission, violated the provisions of Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
In the Supreme Court judgment delivered on Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) and Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), the Supreme Court had the opportunity to consider the defect of a party ticket/nomination paper of a candidate being signed by Governor Buni and the court referred to the decision of the Court of Appeal which talked about holding dual executive office, and the court opined that if there is even any defect in that, it does not affect the candidate who has emerged from the primaries.”
Atabo, while speaking, said, “You know in Oyetola’s own, it was Buni, the former caretaker chairman of the APC that forwarded his name to INEC. In the case of Tinubu, it was the Senator Adamu-led executive that conducted the primary election and forwarded his name to INEC.
“So, in my own opinion, the two cases are different. While in Oyetola, Buni was the caretaker chairman, the court held that it was inappropriate, that he couldn’t hold two positions at the same time.”
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