Certificate Saga: Court nullifies Adeleke’s nomination as PDP candidate

An Abuja High Court on Tuesday, nullified the nomination of Senator Ademola Adeleke as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the September 22, 2018 governorship election in Osun state.

Few weeks to the poll, two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Wahab Raheem and Adam Habeeb, dragged Adeleke to court accusing him of not possessing the requisite educational qualification (secondary school certificate), to contest for the office of Governor.

They prayed the court for an order to disqualify Adeleke from participating in the election.

Delivering judgment in the suit on Tuesday, Justice Oathman Musa annulled Adeleke’s nomination on the grounds that Adeleke offended section 177 of the 1999 constitution as amended, which stipulates that candidates for the position of Governor must be educated up to secondary school level.

According to Justice Musa, while the court’s findings showed that Adeleke entered secondary school in 1976, there was no record to show that he actually graduated, as his name was no longer seen in the school’s register from 1980.

Justice Musa further stated that the result Adeleke attached to his form CF001 which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was fake, as it was found to be different from the one presented to the court by the principal of Ede Muslim High School, Ede in Osun State.

Adeleke’s lawyer, Nathaniel Oke SAN, has faulted the judgment of Justice Musa, on the grounds that the judge erred in law by going out of his way to source for evidence to arrive at his “unjust conclusion”.