Ondo Polls: Appeal Court Hands Victory To Opponents As Ebiseni Is Disqualified

Ondo Polls: Appeal Court Hands Victory To Opponents As Ebiseni Is Disqualified

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has disqualified Olusola Ebiseni as the Labour Party’s candidate for the Ondo State governorship election scheduled for Saturday, November 16, 2024. In a unanimous ruling, the three-judge panel, led by Justice Hamma Barka and delivered by Justice...CONTINUE READING…

Adebukola Banjoko, upheld the appeal filed by the Labour Party. The court granted the appeal in case number CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024, stating that it was allowed.

Justice Banjoko also announced that the Certified True Copy of the judgment would be made available to all parties for review. Justice Abba Mohammed, who concurred with the lead judgment, supported the decision of the panel.

This ruling overturns a previous decision by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had instructed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the Labour Party’s gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial candidates for the upcoming election.

Earlier, Justice Nwite of the Federal High Court had validated a second Labour Party primary election that produced Ebiseni and Awude as candidates, directing INEC to acknowledge and publish their names. The judgment had noted evidence of Ebiseni’s payment of N20 million for the nomination form, along with an additional N5 million paid to Festus Olorunfemi as compensation for his withdrawal from the race.

However, the Court of Appeal’s ruling has now invalidated the Federal High Court’s decision, effectively disqualifying Ebiseni from contesting the governorship election.