The Osun State Government and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) have traded words over the implications of a fresh ruling by the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on the controversial local government election conducted on October 15, 2022.
On Friday, the appellate court dismissed an application by the APC seeking to relist an earlier appeal that had been struck out on January 13 for lack of diligent prosecution.
Delivering the judgment virtually, Justice Peter Obiorah held that relisting the appeal could cause judicial confusion, insisting that the application lacked merit.
The case originated from a suit filed by the All Peoples Party against the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission at the Federal High Court, challenging the legality of the October 15, 2022 LG election, which featured only APC candidates.
The APC, which later joined the matter at the Federal High Court, had appealed the judgement after the lower court nullified the election.
However, the appeal was struck out earlier this year for failure to pursue it diligently.
The party’s attempt to have the case relisted was also dismissed on Friday.
Reacting, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said the ruling affirmed the subsistence of the Federal High Court judgement that sacked the 2022 elected LG chairmen and councillors.
“In the judgment delivered on Friday, the Court of Appeal made it clear that the dismissal of Appeal No FHC/OS/CS/94/2022 means the judgment of the lower court remains binding,” Alimi said.
He accused the APC of plunging the state into an avoidable political crisis that resulted in loss of lives and properties.
But the APC, in a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, accused the PDP-led government of twisting the facts.
He maintained that Friday’s ruling had no bearing on the February 10, 2025 judgement of the Court of Appeal, which, according to the party, reinstated the sacked chairmen and councillors.
“The ruling today was only on an abandoned appeal and has no effect whatsoever on the February 10, 2025 judgement, which remains valid and binding. Only the Supreme Court can overturn it, and no such appeal exists,” the statement said.
The APC urged the public to disregard what it called “deliberate misinformation” by the state government and reiterated that its elected officials remain in office based on the earlier appellate court ruling.
The Punch
