Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned an earlier Federal High Court decision in favor of Oladipupo Adebutu, a factional governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State.
A three-member panel of the court ruled on Friday that Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja (now retired) was wrong to decline jurisdiction to hear Jimi Adebisi Lawal’s suit. Lawal is contesting the PDP’s use of a delegates’ list in the conduct of the governorship primary election on May 25, 2022, as opposed to the list of delegates democratically elected for that purpose at ward congresses.
On Friday, Justice Biobele Georgewill delivered the lead judgment of the Court of Appeal in the appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/898/2022, holding that the issue in the case is pre-election related, over which the Federal High Court has jurisdiction. Justice Georgewill then issued an order remanding the case to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for a merits hearing.
The judge ruled that because the trial court failed to decide the suit on its merits and the 180-day period for deciding pre-election cases is still in effect, the case should be remitted to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for prompt assignment to another judge for trial. Justices M. Mustapha and Danlami Senchi, the panel’s other members, agreed with the lead judgment.
