PDP Explains Why It Rejects Oyewole As Member Of Osun Guber Poll Appeal Panel
LAGOS APRIL 24TH (NEWSRANGERS)-The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the inclusion of Justice J.O.K. Oyewole as a member of the Osun State Governorship Election Appeal Tribunal.
Addressing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, who said that the party had already petitioned the President of the Court, added that Justice Oyewole had connections with the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Our position is predicated on the fact that Hon. Justice Oyewole has strong connections with the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is an interested party in the appeal.
“In this regard, the PDP has already petitioned the President of the Court, objecting to the inclusion of Hon. Justice Oyewole on the appeal panel based on the clear likelihood of his being biased against the person of our candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, and the PDP, under which he contested the 2018 Osun State governorship election,” the party’s spokesman said.
Explaining why the PDP was rejecting Justice Oyewole’s membership of the appeal panel, the party said: “Hon. Justice Oyewole (JCA) is an indigene of Osun State and he had served as a High Court judge of Lagos State and had thus served under the administration of Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu (the national leader of the APC) while he (Tinubu) was the governor of Lagos State.
“When the seat of the Chief Judge of Osun State became vacant some years back, upon the retirement of Hon. Justice G.O. Ojo, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu insisted on having his anointed candidate, Hon Justice J.O.K. Oyewole, on the judiciary of Osun State at all cost.
“It would be recalled that it took the courageous intervention of the then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Murktar, to prevail that the most senior judge of Osun State judiciary should be so appointed.
“When a seat became vacant at the Court of Appeal, the name of Hon. Justice Oyewole was pushed forward by Senator Tinubu, using the slot of Osun State and, thus, Justice Oyewole became Justice of the Court of Appeal.
“It is, therefore, a fact known to us and members of the public that Hon. Justice Oyewole has a strong connection with the APC and its leader, Senator Ahmed Tinubu. As such he should not sit as a panel member for a governorship election dispute between the PDP and the APC.
“Moreover, Hon. Justice J.O.K. Oyewole is from Osun State. The instant appeal is over the decision of the Osun State governorship tribunal.
“Given his connections with the APC, it will be most unsafe to allow Hon. Justice J.O.K. Oyewole to sit on the appeal panel. We are not assured that justice will be done with Hon. Justice J.O.K. Oyewole as a member of the panel.
“As a party, we do not have confidence in Hon. Justice J.O.K. Oyewole. So, the PDP vehemently objects to his inclusion as he is likely to be biased against our party and our candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke.
“The party, therefore, demands that the President of the Court of Appeal immediately replace Hon. Justice J.O.K. Oyewole with another justice of the Court of Appeal without any affiliation with Osun State, out of the over 90 eminent justices of the Court of Appeal.
“Our party and candidate hold that justice must not only be done, but also manifestly seen to be done in this matter. Indeed, an insistence on Hon. Justice J.O.K. Oyewole’s inclusion in the appeal panel may confirm our fears that his name could have been deliberately included so that he can carry out a special assignment against our candidate and the party in the appeal.”
Short URL: https://newsrangers.com/?p=26999
Posted by News Rangers
on Apr 24 2019. Filed under National.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
