Abuja , Nigeria – In a significant development ahead of the Ondo State governorship election scheduled for Saturday, November 16, the Court of Appeal in Abuja has disqualified Olusola Ebiseni as the Labour Party’s gubernatorial candidate.
The ruling was delivered on Wednesday by a three-member panel of justices.
The appellate court’s decision, led by Justice Hamma Barka and read by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, unanimously allowed the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024, filed by the Labour Party. The case had challenged Ebiseni’s candidacy, and the panel ruled against the prior judgement from the Federal High Court.
Justice Banjoko instructed that a Certified True Copy of the ruling be immediately made available to all parties. Justice Abba Mohammed also concurred with the verdict.
The decision overturns a previous ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja. Justice Nwite had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize Ebiseni and his running mate, Ezekiel Awude, as the Labour Party’s candidates. The High Court ruling had validated the second primary election conducted by the party, which selected Ebiseni and Awude, and directed INEC to uphold the election results.
Justice Nwite had emphasized that Ebiseni paid N20 million for the party’s nomination form and was officially issued the form that facilitated the second primary. Additionally, the court noted evidence that the Labour Party instructed Ebiseni to pay N5 million to Festus Olorunfemi as compensation for his withdrawal from the governorship race.
Despite the High Court’s directive that INEC publish Ebiseni and Awude as the Labour Party’s lawful candidates for the November 16 election, the Court of Appeal’s ruling has now upended that decision.
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