Ondo Poll: Appeal Court replaces Jimoh Ibrahim with Jegede as PDP candidate

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has declared Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, as the rightful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Ondo State governorship election stated for Saturday.

In a unanimous judgment on Wednesday, the three-man Special Panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, vacated the June 29 judgement of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim as PDP gubernatorial candidate for the poll.

Jegede had approached the court to challenge the high court verdict which ordered INEC to only relate with the Ali Modu-Sheriff faction of the PDP.

Justice Abang had on October 14, also re-affirmed his decision, even as he warned the electoral body against accepting any candidate nominated by the Senator Ahmed Markafi-led National Caretaker Committee of the PDP.

Acting on the strength of the order, INEC promptly removed Jegede’s name from the list of candidates for the Ondo governorship election and replaced it with Ibrahim.

In its verdict, the appellate court, held that Justice Abang’s refusal of to grant fair hearing to Jegede, “rendered the entire proceedings before his court a nullity”. According to Justice Saulawu, “Indeed it is obvious from the records that the appellant’s name had been duly published as the governorship candidate of the 11th respondent (PDP) for the November 26 Ondo governorship election” Eyitayo Jegede and Jimoh Ibrahim It held that the lower court was in grievous error when it ordered the publication of Ibrahim’s name.

It said the decision of the high court was in total breach of the provision of section 36 of the 1999 constitution, which it said forbade any court from denying fair hearing to a party likely to be affected by final decision of the court.

Justice Saulawa, said the action of the court violated the legal doctrine of audi altarem partem. “The tenets of natural Justice entails that a party ought to be heard prior to determination of case against them”.

The court also said that Justice Abang ordered INEC to “immediately” recognise Mr. Ibrahim who was never a party in the suit that culminated to both the June 29 and October 14 judgments. “The Court below had no jurisdictional competence to make such order. I have no restriction in the circumstance in resolving the second issue equally in favour of the appellant”.

It said that Justice Abang “unilaterally”, raised issues that were not included by the plaintiffs, an action it said amounted to “a violent attitudinal disposition to the rule of law”.