Oladipupo Adebutu’s status as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Ogun State was upheld by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The judgment was delivered by the top court in its decision regarding an appeal filed by Jimi Lawal, the party’s candidate for governor of the state.
Due to alleged irregularities in the process, Lawal has challenged the May 25, 2022 governorship primary that had produced Adebutu as the PDP candidate in the state.
He stated that the list of delegates for the event did not match the names of the people chosen at the early-year ward congresses in the lawsuit he filed at the Federal High Court of Abuja.
The complainant requested that the exercise be declared invalid and that a new one be ordered in the state.
However, the case was rejected by the court and the Abuja Appeal Court for lack of merit.
The offended candidate petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn both decisions because he was unhappy with them.
A five-member panel of the supreme court, chaired by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, dismissed three additional appeals brought by PDP ward delegates in the state on Tuesday on the grounds that the parties involved had not provided a sufficient basis for their claims.
The Supreme Court ruled that because the delegates who made the claim that they were prohibited from voting in the primary election that selected Adebutu as the party’s nominee were not candidates, they could not file a lawsuit challenging the results of the election.
The tribunal ruled that the only candidate who may legally contest the results of a primary election is one who took part in one that was held by a political party.
