The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Wednesday disqualified Olusola Ebiseni as the Labour Party candidate for the upcoming Ondo State governorship election, set for Saturday, 16 November.
A unanimous decision was rendered by a three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Hamma Barka and delivered by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, which stated, “the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024, brought by the Labour Party against Chief Olusola Ebiseni and two others, is allowed.”
Justice Banjoko instructed that a Certified True Copy of the judgement be promptly provided to all parties involved in the appeal for their review.
Justice Abba Mohammed expressed his agreement with his colleagues’ decision while contributing to the judgement.
This ruling overturned the previous decision by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had mandated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the party’s candidates for the governorship and deputy governorship positions, respectively.
Justice Nwite had affirmed the validity of the Labour Party’s second primary election, which selected Ebiseni and Awude, asserting that INEC was required to uphold the results.
In his judgement regarding the suit brought by Ebiseni and Awude, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1105/2024, Justice Nwite noted that Ebiseni had paid N20 million for the nomination form and was duly issued a form leading to the second primary election.
He also highlighted evidence indicating that the Labour Party directed Ebiseni to pay N5 million to Festus Olorunfemi as compensation for his withdrawal from the governorship race.
Consequently, Justice Nwite ordered INEC to accept the nominations of Ebiseni and Awude, requiring their names to be published as the Labour Party’s lawful candidates for the Ondo State governorship election scheduled for 16 November, until the recent appellate court ruling.
