An Osun State High Court presided over by Justice David Oladimeji yesterday dismissed a suit challenging the eligibility of Senator Ademola Adeleke as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September 22, 2018 governorship election in the state, saying that the constitution does not state that a candidate for the office of the governor must possess a certificate.
The plaintiffs, Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu who are members of PDP in Osun had dragged Adeleke to court claiming that he did not possess the required certificate that qualifies him to contest governorship election in the state and urged the court to restrain the party from presenting him to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as candidate of the party.
They also urged the court to restrain INEC from accepting Adeleke from PDP as its candidate on the basis that the Senator was not qualified, quoting Section 177 (d) of the 1999 Constitution.
In his judgement, Justice Oladimeji said the claims of the plaintiffs that Adeleke does not possess school certificate cannot disqualify him from contesting the election because the constitution does not state that a candidate for the office of the governor must possess a certificate.
Justice Oladimeji said the constitution only stipulated that the candidate must be educated up to secondary school level and that the plaintiff also admitted that the Senator attended Ede Grammar School.
The judge struck out the case saying that whether Adeleke obtained a certificate or not cannot be used to disqualify him and that the fact that he attended the school is enough for him to contest.
