Appeal Court also stated that the Certified True Copy of the judgment will be made available as soon as possible
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Court of Appeal has disqualified the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the upcoming Ondo State governorship election, Olusola Ebiseni, with just four days to the commencement of the poll.
The judgement was unanimously delivered by the three members of the panel and read out by the chairman of the panel, Justice Adebukola Banjoko, on Wednesday.
The judges held that, “the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 brought by the Labour Party against Chief Olusola Ebiseni and two others is allowed.”
Appeal Court further stated that the Certified True Copy of the judgment will be made available to the parties involved in the appeal as soon as possible for their review.
Justice Abba Mohammed, in his contributory judgement, agreed with the decision of his fellow Appeal Court justices.
Prior to this development, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept and recognize Olusola Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the Labour Party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the November 16 Ondo State governorship elections.
ALSO READ: The battle for Ondo: Aiyedatiwa and Ajayi’s final showdown
In his judgement on the suit brought by Ebiseni and Awude, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1105/2024, the judge confirmed that the second primary election conducted by the LP, which resulted in Ebiseni and Awude being selected as candidates, was valid and should be upheld by INEC.
Justice Nwite also noted that Ebiseni had paid the sum of N20 million for the nomination form and was duly issued a form leading to the conduct of the second primary election.
He further observed that there was evidence the LP had directed Ebiseni to pay the sum of N5 million to one Festus Olorunfemi as compensation for his withdrawal from the governorship race.
He thus ordered INEC to accept the nominations of Ebiseni and Awude and to publish their names as the LP’s lawful candidates for the upcoming Ondo State governorship election.
However, the trial court’s judgment has now been overturned by the appellate court.