Osun 2022: Adeleke, Babayemi Factions Disagree Over Court Ruling

The battle for the flagbearer in the 2022 Osun State gubernatorial has continued in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as two factions of the party disagree over the court ruling.

Naija News recalls that two persons had emerged as flagbearers in the party’s primary elections weeks ago.

A faction had produced Senator Ademola Adeleke as its flagbearer while the other produced Ademola Adedokun.

Following a ruling by an Osun State High Court sitting in Ijebu-Jesa, a counsel to one of the flagbearers, Edmund Biriomoni said in a statement on Wednesday that his client, Prince Dotun Babayemi, was the valid candidate of the party in the governorship poll.

Naija News understands that Biriomoni had addressed the statement to the court judge, Justice Adeyinka Aderibigbe, siting the case between Ademola Adedokun and 29 others against the PDP and INEC.

Aderibigbe had earlier adjourned the matter indefinitely citing, the existence of a matter currently at the Court of Appeal.

The statement reads in part, “On the 3rd of March, 2022, the Court granted an order recognising the Ward Executive Officers of the party that produced the 215 delegates. On the 10th of March again, the Court declared through its Order of Mandatory Interim Injunction, that Babayemi was the legally recognised candidate of the party, having been elected by delegates backed by the law.

“However, in its sitting today, Wednesday, the court adjourned sine die due to the appeal currently at the Court of Appeal.”

According to him, the court’s position implied that his client Babayemi remained the party gubernatorial candidate because of the subsisting orders.

Biriomoni sited further that “The Court orders of 3rd and 10th of March, 2022, are still subsisting, valid and binding on parties concerned. Omo Oba Dotun Babayemi remains the candidate of the party.

“Yes, the implication is that the status quo remains; it means the court will go comatose till they finish from the Court of Appeal. They have shot themselves in the foot. It means that the status quo remains which implies that the two earlier court orders granted in favour of the plaintiffs are still subsisting.”

However, in a contrary statement, a faction of the PDP in Osun which is supporting the candidacy of Senator Adeleke, warned against misinformation, stating that ex-parte orders last only for seven days.

The group maintained that Adeleke is the rightful person to represent the party in the coming governorship election in the state.

The Publicity Secretary of the party, Ayodeji Areola, in his reaction said the legal brick wall on the Osun PDP ticket had been resolved in favour of Adeleke.

Areola said the faction was not unaware of the misinformation being circulated by a tiny minority within Osun PDP supported by members of the All Progressive Congress in the state that the order of interim injunction made by Aderibigbe operates indefinitely.

“That is far from the truth as that position will be preposterous and against logic, law and reason,” Areola said.

He added: “An ex-parte order has a seven-day life span and unless expressly extended, it automatically vanishes after the 7-day period. In the case of PDP .V. ADAGUNODO in CA/AK/349/2020, the Court of Appeal had this to say on the life span of an ex-parte order.

“Interim orders have a life span and automatically expire by effluxion of time, in this case, seven days, unless renewed by another seven days as situation and circumstances permit. The clear implication of the above-cited rules of court is that an order made ex-parte shall automatically abate after seven days.”

“The implication of the above position is that there is no court order disturbing our candidate any longer.”

This article was originally published on Nigeria News