Senator Adeleke dances over his opponents in court but they file fresh suit to stop his governorship bid

SENATOR Ademola Adeleke has been cleared by the Osun State High Court to stand in next month's gubernatorial elections after it dismissed a suit challenging his suitability filed by two rivals who stood against him in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries.

Widely popular for his dancing skills, Senator Adeleke, 58, achieved national notoriety in July last year when after winning a by-election to represent Osun West Senatorial District, he celebrated his victory with an elaborate public dance. Last month, Senator Adeleke won the ticket to be the PDP Osun State governorship candidate at the forthcoming gubernatorial elections taking place on September 22.

However, two of his opponents Rasheed Olabayo and Idowu Oluwaseun, had filed a suit asking the court to restrain Senator Adeleke from being presented as the governorship candidate of the party because he did not have the basic educational qualification required by the constitution for anyone seeking to contest governorship election. In its ruling, the court sitting in Osogbo dismissed the suit with Justice David Oladimeji, ruling that the plaintiffs admitted in their affidavit filed before the court that Senator Adeleke attended Ede Muslim Grammar School now known as Ede Muslim High School.

Justice Oladimeji held that Senator Adeleke satisfied the requirement of Section 177 (d) of the 1999 constitution, which stated that a governorship candidate must be educated up to secondary school level or its equivalent. Citing past cases, the judge ruled that a person did not need to possess a secondary school certificate to be eligible to contest governorship election but must have education up to secondary school level, which Senator Adeleke and the plaintiffs had proved he did.

 “I hold that the first defendant (Adeleke) needs not to pass the examination or posses the certificate before he can contest the election. The plaintiffs’ case is lacking in merit and it is accordingly dismissed,” Justice Oladimeji ruled.

Meanwhile, two PDP delegates have filed a fresh suit against Senator Adeleke on the allegation of forgery. The case was filed by Olagboye Adedamola and Oyetunji Suredi over the testimonial and statement of results presented by the senator to the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), which they claimed were fake documents.

In the new suit attached with seven exhibits and a 37-paragraph affidavit, the plaintiffs sought seven reliefs and asked the court to disqualify Senator Adeleke from contesting the election. They specifically asked the court to bar Senator Adeleke from the election on account of ineligibility, false information and the submission of false documents to Inec.