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Tag: Osun governorship election.

  • Osun Guber: Appeal Court dismisses suit against Adeleke

    The Akure division of the Court of Appeal yesterday said the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September governorship election in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, was eligible to contest the election.

    The Appeal Court in its ruling dismissed an appeal against the judgment of an Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo which had earlier confirmed the eligibility of Adeleke to contest the governorship election.

    The Appeal court sitting in Akure,the Ondo state capital in its ruling dismissed the appeal on three grounds, affirming the judgment of the lower court that confirmed the eligibility of Adeleke. The first ground was that the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case.

    The second was that the petitioner; one Kingsley Awosiyan from Ife Central,  has no locus standi to file the case and third was that the matter was brought to court outside the stipulated 14 days after the conduct of the governorship primary election.

    Read also: We didn’t see Adeleke in exam hall, NECO supervisors tell court

    Reacting to the judgment, counsel to Adeleke, Nathaniel Oke said the latest judgment has knocked out the judgment of an Abuja High Court and rendered its conclusion ineffective, null and void with no effect on the candidacy of the PDP candidate for the September 2018 gubernatorial election.

    He said the Abuja High court judgment had contradicted the Osogbo High court verdict by rejecting testimonies of WAEC, an examination body which in a sworn affidavit confirmed that Ademola Adeleke sat for its examination with attached results.

  • Aragbiji upbeat about Oyetola’s victory

    …advises indigenes against wild jubilation

     

    The Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrosheed Olabomi, has expressed optimism about Gboyega Oyetola’s victory in Saturday’s Osun State governorship election.

    Oyetola, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election, hails from Iragbiji.

    The monarch, who cast his vote in front of his palace at 11:17 am, told The Nation at his palace that he was not surprised at the massive turnout of his subjects in today’s election because the APC candidate is one of his subjects that is committed to the development of the town and welfare of indigenes.

    Oba Olabomi explained that Oyetola has been in the forefront of human capital development of the town in recent decades, offering scholarships to indigent students, supporting community projects and sponsoring free health services to the masses.

    “Even before he became the Chief of Staff, he had been very supportive. There has never been a time he held back in his responsibilities to the town as a major indigene. He has impacted almost every home in Iragbiji, helping young people to secure employment, supporting students and helping many people with health challenges.” Olabomi said.

    The traditional ruler revealed that reports from other parts of the state confirmed that there were large turnout of voters in the election which he believes would be in favour of his subject.

    Based on his expectation and the enthusiasm of his subjects, he advised them against wild jubilation when Oyetola is hopefully declared winner. He advised them to celebrate moderately, reminding them that the candidate is a gentleman and that Iragbiji is known for peace.

  • Saraki heads 85-member PDP’s Osun campaign council

    The President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki is heading an 85-member campaign council of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the September 22 governorship election in Osun State.

    All the party’s serving governors and presidential aspirants are also members of the council. The council, which was inaugurated in Abuja Monday by the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has since resumed work.

    Read Also:Crisis rocks Imo PDP over alleged alteration of delegate list

    Secondus, while inaugurating the team, described election rigging and vote buying as the worst forms of corruption, warning that the PDP would not tolerate the charade.

    The party chair recalled that the July 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State was marred by vote buying and election rigging and warned that the Ekiti experience must not be allowed to happen in Osun.

    Secondus said, “Enough is enough, PDP will not tolerate Osun being rigged like Ekiti. We have a popular candidate and the performance of the APC ruling government has been awful with months of salaries owed to workers.

    “We are aware that the electoral commission that is supposed to operate as an unbiased umpire in the conduct of elections has suddenly made itself a parastatal of the federal government, conniving with APC and security agencies to exchange results.

    “Even security agencies whose allegiance should be to the constitution and people of Nigeria, have allowed themselves to behave as if they are operatives of the ruling APC.

    “We decided to set up this high powered committee to demonstrate the importance we attach to this election. All our presidential aspirants and some state governors are members, plus all other critical stakeholders from South West and other parts of the country”.

    The party chairman implored lovers of democracy around the world to show more than passing interest in the Osun State governorship election, saying that the APC is not disposed to conducting free and fair election.

    In his remarks, Saraki charged President Muhammadu Buhari to stand on the commitment he made recently to two world leaders that visited the country recently; that he would conduct free, fair and credible election, with Osun as example.

    Saraki said that aside the popularity of the PDP candidate in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, the people of the state were yearning for change to return their state to the PDP.

  • US interested in Osun governorship election

    The United States of America has expressed interest in the September 22 governorship election in Osun State.

    The  US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Stuart Symington, who visited the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer for the election, Mr. Isiaka Oyetola, in his campaign office yesterday, said the American government believes the election would be credible, free and fair.

    In a statement signed by the spokesperson of Isiaka Oyetola Campaign Organisation, Mr. Dayo Fasola, quoted the envoy as saying that the international community is following keenly activities before, during and after the election.

    The statement reads: “It is a great honour to be here at the Oyetola Campaign Organisation and to meet with the candidate of the APC.  It is  important for everyone in this state to show interest and participate. I fact. the people here must really show interstate, just as the US and the international community are doing, because you are the first and major stakeholders. So, people should watch with keen interest and ensure the election go peacefully.”

    In his response, Oyetola assured that the APC is committed to peaceful electoral process.

    Oyetola said he was ready to address challenges facing the state.

  • APC to INEC: PDP plans to deploy thugs for Osun guber election

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it has information that the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is planning to deploy thugs and to rig the forthcoming Osun governorship election.

    APC National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, on Wednesday in Abuja also accused the PDP of cloning Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) for use in the election.

    Read Also:Saraki’s action is high treason, says APC

    “The PDP on Tuesday vowed to deploy all means, schemes, shenanigans in all ramification and magnitude to rig all coming elections, starting from the Osun governorship election.

    “The party also directed all its presidential aspirants to move all their political machinery into Osun State within this period.

    “When the APC learnt of the shocking disclosures, we initially doubted its veracity and dismissed it as one of the fake news in circulation,” Nabena said in a statement.

    It stressed that the PDP’s statement on Tuesday was particularly worrisome because it coincided with the situation field report the APC received on its plans for the Osun governorship election.

    It added that the PDP’s new public rigging plans was a red flag that required urgent probe by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and relevant security agencies.

    The statement called on well-meaning Nigerians and civil society organisations to speak out and resist the PDP’s retrogressive plan which threatened the country’s democracy.

    It reminded the PDP that the country’s democracy was maturing, and that its crude election rigging methods such as ballot box snatching displayed during last weekend by-election in Kogi was no longer accepted in elections.

    It, however, expressed confidence that the people of Osun would resist the PDP’s deployment to take-over the state by force.

    “The people’s will, the people’s vote is supreme, it must be respected and defended, that is democratic, progressive and the right thing, “the statement said.

    It further reminded the PDP of the new realities that the old Nigeria was slowly but surely disappearing and a new era was rising as captured by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    It added that unlike undemocratic practices under past administrations, elections under the APC administration were increasingly freer and fairer.

    The statement said this was a very significant feat in APC’s march for lasting and representative democracy.

    The Osun governorship election is slated for Sept. 22.