The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment in the case filed by All Progressives Congress (APC) and Adegboyega Oyetola, who ran for governor of Osun State in the most recent election.
After hearing arguments from attorneys for all sides, a three-member court panel gave the verdict on Friday with no date fixed yet.
Among others, the APC and Oyetola are asking the appellate court to overturn Justice Emeka Nwite’s September 30, 2022 ruling from the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The nomination of Oyetola and Benedict Alabi, his running mate for governor, as APC candidates for the July 16, 2022 election was revoked by Justice Nwite in the ruling.
In a ruling, Justice Nwite ruled, among other things, that Governor Mai Mala Buni, the former head of the APC’s caretaker committee, had broken the terms of Section 183 of the Constitution and Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022 when he submitted the candidates’ names to INEC.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) filed the FHC/ABJ/CS/468/2022 lawsuit against Mala Buni and four other defendants.
The nomination of Governor Oyetola and Alabi by the APC was ruled to be invalid by Justice Nwite after agreeing with the plaintiff’s attorney, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN).
Mala Buni was found to have violated Section 183 of the Constitution while serving as both the governor of Yobe State and the head of the APC’s national caretaker committee, according to the judgment.