The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, fixed October 31 for the arraignment of the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in the September 22, 2018 election in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, and four others, on charges of examination malpractices.
The judge, Justice I.E Ekwo, during a brief hearing, which was stalled due to Adeleke’s absence on Monday, directed the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to ensure all the five defendants were brought to court for arraignment on October 31.
“The prosecution is ordered to ensure the defendants are in court at the next date, to take their plea,” the judge ruled.
The IG, through the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Simon Lough, had on September 19, 2018 filed four counts of examination malpractices against Adeleke and his four co-accused.
Adeleke, who was defeated by the All Progressives Congress’ candidate in the Osun State governorship election, Adegboyega Oyetola, has filed a petition before the election petition tribunal challenging the cumulative results of the September 22 election and the September 27 re-run declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The prosecutor, Lough, informed the judge on Monday that the matter marked, FHC/ABJ/CR/156/2018, was coming up for the first time on Monday.
The prosecution accused the five defendants of committing examination malpractices by fraudulently, through personation, registering Adeleke and another Sikiru Adeleke, as students of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, in Ojo-Aro in Osun State, for the National Examination Council’s June/July 2017 Senior School Certificate Examination in February 2017.
Charged by the police alongside Adeleke were, Sikiru Adeleke; the principal of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Alhaji Aregbesola Muftau; the registrar of the school, Gbadamosi Ojo; and a teacher in the school, Dare Samuel Olutope.
While the four other defendants were present in court on Monday, Adeleke was absent.
His lawyer, Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), informing the judge that the governorship candidate not in court because of ill health.
Izinyon said, “His Personal Assistant informed me yesterday (Sunday) that he was indisposed because he was stooling.
“He sent a sent medical report to that effect.”
Izinyon said he had served the medical report, showing his client was on medication, on the prosecution.
He pleaded with the court to grant a short adjournment to enable the first defendant to recover.
The prosecuting counsel, Lough, acknowledged that the medical report had been served on him.
He also urged the court to grant a short adjournment.
Tag: adeleke
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Alleged exam malpractices: Court orders police to produce Adeleke, others on Oct 31
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Osun Rerun: Why I supported Oyetola against Adeleke – Omisore
The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the just concluded governorship election in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has said that he opted to support the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gboyega Oyetola against that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ademola Adeleke because the leadership of the PDP in the state said they did not need his support.
Omisore said this in Osogbo on Thursday during a meeting with members of the SDP from across the 30 local government areas of the state.
Omisore, who defected from the PDP to the SDP some months before the election, said that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar wanted to come and discuss with him before the rerun when he came to Osogbo but he (Atiku) was prevented from coming by the leadership of the PDP in the state.
A former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dr Yemi Farounbi, had said this while narrating why Omisore decided to work for the APC candidate in the rerun supplementary poll held on September 27.
Farounbi said the same thing and Omisore, while addressing the party members, said he adopted everything the former envoy had said.
He said the party opted to support the candidate of the party that was ready to implement the manifestos of the SDP because the party was for the best interest of the majority of the people.
Omisore said, “I want to adopt all what Dr Farounbi said. We gave them (APC and PDP) our manifesto. We dwelled on payment of arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities, on local content, employment for our youths and the reorganisation of the educational system, among others.
“We went to negotiation with a clear mind that Osun must be free and thank God our coalition has produced a new future for the state.
“In addition to what Dr Faroumbi said, the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomole, said clearly that our discussion was devoid of any financial commitment. He said they were ready to work.”
Speaking earlier, Farounbi had explained that the SDP leaders decided to support any political party that was ready to put the people of the state first, saying Omisore earned his respect more because he was selfless in arriving at who to support.
He said the issue of arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities which had impoverished workers and pensioners was given priority. The reorganisation of the education sector and local content were also prominent on their agenda.
Farounbi said, “Apart from these, we also said the state must return to 6-3-3-4. That contracts and services must be given to Osun indigenes; that infrastructural development and food security must be given priority because our people must not be hungry and they agreed.
“The Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, was the first to come and he came from the airport to Ile-Ife with some senators and Dr Doyin Okupe. We gave him our manifesto and we waited for 24 hours but no response. We heard that they were saying that we wanted to reap where we did not sow. We heard that they said they would win without us and all that.
“Also, former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel, who is the director general of Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation, called and said they were in Osogbo and they would come to see us. But they did not come.
“But former Vice President Atiku Abubakar called and expressed his regret for not being able to come. He said he wanted to come but the leadership of the PDP in Osun State said they should not come because they didn’t need us. That we should go and do anything we liked.”
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Osun: Tribunal accedes Adeleke’s request, bars INEC from tampering with election results
The Election Petition Tribunal constituted to hear the petitions arising from the Osun State governorship election has granted an ex parte order to Senator Ademola Adeleke, restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from altering election results as well as information contained in the card reader machines and other documents used for the poll.
The tribunal, headed by Justice T.A. Igoche, which also has Justice P. A. Obayi as member, granted this order in Osogbo on Thursday during its sitting before the commencement of pre-hearing session.
Adeleke, who was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party had, through his counsel, Mr. Nathaniel Oke (SAN), filed an ex parte application seeking leave of the tribunal to file the application before the pre-hearing session.
The applicant also sought leave of the tribunal to inspect and obtain certified true copies of electoral documents and materials in the custody of INEC; an order to conduct physical inspection and verification of electoral materials and machines, as well as used and unused ballots, among others.
Adeleke also applied for an order to compel the INEC to produce and print out list of permanent voter card distribution statistics per polling units and an order restraining INEC from altering extracted information from card readers, election results from polling unit level to state level, as well as ballot papers used for the conduct of the governorship election in Osun State.
Adeleke predicated his application on the grounds that he was the candidate that contested the election held on September 22, 2018 and the re-run election held on September 27, 2018 on the platform of PDP.
Other grounds of the application are: ” That the total votes won by the 1st applicant on the 22nd day of September, 2018 was 245,698 while the 1st respondent scored 245,345.
“That the 1st applicant was the winner of the election and ought to have been so declared by the 3rd respondent ( INEC). That the 3rd respondent declared the election inconclusive hence a rerun was conducted on the 27th day of September 2018.
” That the rerun election was marred by electoral violence, vote-buying, stuffing of ballot papers, multiple thumb-printing and voting and allocation of votes by the 3rd respondent. That by the total actual and valid votes cast on the 22nd and 27th days of September 2018 respectively, the elections were won by the applicants.
“That an examination of the electoral documents and election materials in the custody of the 3rd respondent is required to determine the actual facts and records of the elections to maintain this petition.
“That the 3rd respondent wrongfully declared and returned the 1st respondent as being duly elected and winner of the governorship election, Osun State held on 22nd day of September 2018 and the rerun election held on 27th day of September 2018 respectively.
The 1st and 2nd applicants are dissatisfied with the said result of the election as announced by the returning officer of the governorship election, Osun State. That instant allocation is required for the purpose of instituting and maintaining the petition.”
The panel, having listening to the application moved by Adeleke’s counsel held in their ruling that the allocation had merit and granted the all,I cation as prayed.
Igoche, who read the ruling said, “We are of the view that the application has merit. We ahead by grant the application as prayed.”
Addressing the fear raised by the applicant that INEC might not respect the tribunal’s order except they were armed with a certified true copy of the order, Igoche said there was nothing stopping the panel from issuing the order to the applicant on the same day.
There was heavy presence of armed policemen and operatives of the Department of State Service on the court presides and outside the court as security operatives were deployed to prevent destruction of the proceedings at the tribunal.
Those going into the court premises were frisked by policemen from the police anti-bomb unit while vehicles were also thoroughly searched to prevent hoodlums from smuggling weapons into the place. -
Osun 2018: Again, two PDP members drag ‘dancing senator’ to court over primary
Two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun have filed a suit at an Osogbo High Court challenging the candidacy of Sen. Ademola Adeleke as the party’s flag bearer in the Sept. 22 governorship election.
The suit filed on Monday by Mr Oyetunji Suredi and Mr Olagboye Adedamola is coming on the heels of Justice David Oladimeji’s judgment which dismissed a similar suit against Adeleke.
The suit dismissed by Oladimeji was filed by Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu.
In the fresh suit, the plaintiffs are seeking an interlocutory injunction restraining Adeleke from parading himself as the candidate of the Osun PDP over alleged forged school certificate.
They are also asking the court to make an order to restrain the state ’s party Chairman, Mr Soji Adagunodo, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from further recognising the defendant as the candidate of the party.
The duo are further seeking an order mandating the party chairman and INEC to replace Adeleke’s name with that of Akin Ogunbiyi, the runner-up in the party’s primary.
The plaintiffs alleged that Adeleke had presented a forged document as part of the purported proof of his academic qualifications.
However, no date has been fixed for the hearing.
Recall that Oladimeji had earlier dismissed a similar case against Adeleke, stating that the constitution does not require the defendant to pass his secondary school examination to contest elective position.
Olabayo and Idowu had contended that he did not satisfy the constitutional requirements to contest the governorship election.
The plaintiffs, among others, had urged the court to set aside the election on the grounds that Adeleke did not submit his secondary school certificate.
Although the judge in his Aug. 8 judgment held that the documents presented by Adeleke contained damaging errors, he noted that it could be addressed separately since the plaintiffs did not include it in their prayers.
Adeleke had won the primary after he garnered 1,569 votes to beat his closest rival, Ogunbiyi, who polled 1,562.
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Adeleke finally speaks on certificate controversy
Senator Ademola Adeleke, the governorship candidate of the PDP in Osun state, has revealed that he gained admission into the university he attended in the US without presenting his senior school certificate examination result.
The lawmaker was reacting to the dismissal of a suit filed against his eligibility before the Osun State High Court.
The suit was filed by Rasheed Olatunji and Idowu Oluwaseun.
They claim that Adeleke was not eligible to participate in the primary election of the party because, according to them, he did not possess the minimum educational qualification required.
But speaking in Ede, his hometown in Osun, Adeleke said he sat for a qualifying examination before he was given admission to the university.
He spoke alongside his mates at the Ede Muslim Grammar School.
“We all went to school and we know that some results would not be released. But they may release the remaining results tomorrow. Who knows? After I sat for the exams, my mind was in the US. The university I attended did not need our qualification from here. I sat for their qualifying exam,” the lawmaker said.
“I chose to remain quiet since the conclusion of the governorship primary for two reasons; first it is my unchanged belief in party supremacy and utmost respect for the leadership of our great party.
“The second reason is because the issue of my qualification and eligibility as a governorship candidate has been a subject of litigation until yesterday. Now that a judicial pronouncement confirming my qualification and eligibility to contest has been made, the time is now right to speak on the matter.
“For the records, let me reiterate the obvious and easily verifiable fact that I attended the Ede Muslim Grammar School between 1979 and 1981, my schoolmates are everywhere, and some are even here with me. While in school, I was a lover of football, so I was very popular. I was elected the president of the alumni association of this same school until recently.”
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Certificate scandal: Court dismisses case against Adeleke
A case against the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Ademola Adeleke for not allegedly possessing secondary school certificate on Tuesday was dismissed by an Osun State High Court in Osogbo.
The presiding judge, Justice David Oladimeji, dismissed the suit filed by two PDP’s delegates, Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu, asking the court to restrain the PDP from presenting Adeleke to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as candidate of the party for the September 22 Osun governorship poll.
The plaintiffs, who are members of PDP in Osun had claimed that Senator Adeleke did not possess Certificate and urged the court to reverse his candidature.
They also urged court to restrain INEC from accepting Adeleke from PDP as its candidate on the basis that the Senator was not qualified, quoting Section 177 (d) of the 1999 Constitution.
In his ruling, Justice Oladimeji said the claims of the plaintiffs that Adeleke did not possess a “secondary school certificate cannot disqualify him from contesting the election because the constitution does not state that a candidate for the office of the governor must possess a certificate.”
According to the judge, the constitution only stipulated that the candidate must be educated up to secondary school level, saying “the plaintiff also admitted that the Senator attended Ede Grammar School.”
Dismissing the case, the judge, who said that whether Adeleke obtained a certificate or not cannot be used to disqualify him, maintained that the fact that he attended the secondary school is enough for him to contest.
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Certificate forgery: Fresh suit filed against Adeleke
A fresh suit against the Osun State governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has been filed in the state High Court, Osogbo, the state capital.
Two PDP delegates, Olagboye Adedamola and Oyetunji Suredi, who accused Adeleke of forging the testimonial and statement of result he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission, also dragged before the court the PDP the state Chairman, Hon. Soji Adagunodo, and his state executive council members and the INEC.
At the hearing of the case before the court on Tuesday, the plaintiffs asked for an abridged date for the respondents to appear after the service within seven days instead of 21 days and the court order to allow them to advertise all their applications in the national dailies.
The court after the submission of the plaintiffs’ counsel, Bar. Abdulrahman Okunade granted the two prayers.
In the new suit attached with seven exhibits and a 37-paragraph affidavit, the plaintiffs sought for seven reliefs and asked the court to disqualify Senator Adeleke from contesting the September 22 polls as the governorship candidate of the PDP.
They specifically asked the court to bar Adeleke from the poll “on account of ineligibility, false information and submission of false documents to the INEC as the 4th defendant in the suit.”
They urged the court to declare the first runner-up in the PDP primary conducted on July 21, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi as the party’s lawful candidate for the forthcoming governorship election.
In his ruling, the presiding judge, Justice David Oladimeji, adjourned the case till tomorrow Wednesday.
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Osun poll: PDP moves to reconcile Adeleke, Ogunbiyi, other aggrieved aspirants
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, on Monday, in Abuja, met with the party’s governorship candidate in the September 22 Osun State governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke and some aggrieved aspirants.
Also at the meeting were members of the National Working Committee of the party, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi and Senator Felix Ogunwale, among others.
The meeting, which was held at the Presidential Campaign office of the party popularly called Legacy Building at the Maitama District of Abuja, was aimed at pacifying the aggrieved aspirants, especially Ogunbiyi, who came a close second at the party’s primary.
Adeleke polled 1,569 votes, seven higher than those of his main challenger, Ogunbiyi, who scored 1, 562 in the primary.
Ogunbiyi, however, challenged the outcome of the primary before the PDP Appeal Panel, claiming it was manipulated in favour of Adeleke.
However, his petition was thrown out for what the panel described as lacking in merit.
Investigations by our correspondent nevertheless showed that the national leadership of the party felt that there was the need to douse the tension in the opposition camp as it prepared for the election.
A source at the meeting, who spoke with our correspondent after the meeting which ended in the evening, described its outcome as fruitful.
He said that a committee of eight, made up of four from both the side of Adeleke and Ogunbiyi, was set up with a mandate to discuss terms of agreements between the two camps.
It was gathered that the NWC led by Secondus first met with Ogunbiyi and his group before Adeleke was later invited to the meeting, where he was said to have appealed to co- aspirants to work with him.
The source said, “We were surprised at the peaceful conduct of everyone at the meeting. Everyone spoke in favour of the party and the need to work together to win the election.
“Adeleke also told the gathering that he would run an all-inclusive campaign and government if elected. He promised not to sideline anyone.
“At the end of discussions, we agreed that a committee made up of eight people be set up. The committee is expected to submit its report to the NWC on Tuesday. We are serious about winning the election.”
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EXPOSED: Osun PDP candidate Adeleke didn’t graduate from U.S. varsity, as claimed
ADEMOLA Nurudeen Adeleke, senator representing Osun West Senatorial District and the state’s PDP gubernatorial candidate, did not graduate from Jacksonville State University (JSU), says the authorities of the public university located in Alabama, United States.
This new revelation on the educational status of the ‘dancing senator’ as Adeleke is fondly called by his supporters was contained in a report published by the International Center for Investigative Reporting [ICIR].
According to his profile on the National Assembly website, Adeleke has a Diploma in Criminology from JSU and graduated in 1986. He also graduated from Ede Muslim Grammar School, Osun State, where he obtained an Ordinary Level Certificate.
His academic claims have, however, been brutally challenged. According to recently circulated claims, Adeleke registered for GCE O’ Level in 1981 but had F9 in English Language and was recorded absent for other subjects. It also said he has no degree from JSU where he registered as Jackson Ademola Adeleke, while providing what it titled as official records of his enrollment.
Dele Adeleke, Ademola Adeleke’s junior brother, has denied the allegations and encouraged those who disagree to verify the senator’s result at his alma mater. “Do you think the APC would not have raised the issues if he did not have the authentic certificates?” he had asked.
The ICIR can, however, confirm that Adeleke did not graduate from Jacksonville State University, though he has claimed otherwise.
Buffy Lockette, the Director of Public Relations at the university, in response to a mailed enquiry, told The ICIR that though the senator enrolled at the tertiary institution, he was not awarded any degree.
“Your request was forwarded to me,” started Lockette. “According to our records, he attended JSU but did not graduate. I cannot provide any additional information. Perhaps you can learn more at http://www.studentclearinghouse.org.”
When The ICIR checked the West African Examination Council’s website to view Adeleke’s O’ level result using examination number 19645/149 as circulated, the site replied, “result not available for this candidate in the specified year and exams diet”.
The Council’s online result verification portal, which claims to contain data from 1980 to 2018, was also consulted with the same details. The result was brief: “candidate does not exist”.
Demianus Ojijeogu, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, told The ICIR all candidates’ results are in the custody of the Council and should be accessible on the website, regardless of performance in the examination.
“Even if the candidate has F9 throughout or is absent throughout, it is accessible,” he said. He, however, added that the Council is still working on results of candidates who wrote in 1981 and the surrounding years.
“You know there is this change of nomenclature in our examination. We used to have SSCE then WASC, and now WASSCE. So, we are trying to update the website; maybe they took some down.” He promised to confirm and provide feedback on why the results are not presently online.
Meanwhile, two members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu, have as a result of the controversy applied to the Osun State High Court for an order setting aside Adeleke’s election as the party’s flag bearer in the September gubernatorial election.
Olabayo, in his affidavit, said the senator truly attended Ede Muslim Grammar School “but did not leave with a School Leaving Certificate having absented himself from the school leaving examinations but for English where he scored a failing mark of F9”.
One of the exhibits provided to the court and obtained by The ICIR is Adeleke’s senior secondary school examination statement of result recently collected from Ede Muslim High School. It shows that the candidate had an F9 in English Language, while grades for Literature in English, Mathematics, Biology, Economics, Islamic Religious Studies, Christian Religious Studies and Geography, were said to be pending.
Ruling on the plaintiffs’ ex-parte application on Thursday, the court gave Adeleke six days, that is till August 1, 2018, to provide his certificate.
“It will be inequitable not to allow the respondent to come and show his certificate if he has any but if given the opportunity to present side of the case, the balance which is necessary for interlocutory injunction would be adequately considered,” noted Justice David Oladimeji.
Though a newcomer to Nigeria’s elective politics, the 58-year-old senator appears to be flying from triumph to triumph. He was largely unknown politically prior to the demise of Isiaka Adeleke, his older brother, who passed away on April 23, 2017.
Following a bye-election held to fill the vacuum left by Isiaka in the Nigerian senate, he was declared to have had a landslide victory, winning in nine out of 10 local governments. He admitted this was due to his brother’s “historical goodwill” and influence.
According to him: “I was having fun during the campaign and enjoying my dance because my brother had done 70 percent of the job with his historical goodwill right from when he became an executive governor in 1991. I was always with him. I want to follow his footsteps and may God help me.”
On Saturday, Adeleke found himself a step closer to his political ambition as he was declared PDP’s gubernatorial flag bearer in Osun State, after he narrowly defeated Akin Ogunbiyi with a seven-vote difference.
Though what he notes as his target achievement is “to sponsor Bills that would be impactful on my people, especially youths and women”, the senator has in fact not notably sponsored any bills since his election into the red chambers.
On the contrary, he has become notorious for his vigorous, entertaining dance moves and his fondness for flaunting these in public ― a trend that has earned him the name, “the dancing senator”.
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Osun 2018: Adeleke stole our mandate; withdraw his candidacy – PDP gov aspirants tells party
Seven governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State have asked the national leadership of the party to rescind its decision on the nomination of Senator Ademola Adeleke as the candidate of the party in the September 22 governorship election.
The aspirants: Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi; senators Olasunkanmi Akinlabi and Felix Ogunwale; Prof. Adeolu Durotoye and Dr. Ayoade Adewopo said this at a joint press conference in Osogbo on Thursday.
Other aspirants who are also urging the PDP leadership to drop Adeleke are: Messrs Adejare Bello and Jide Adeniji. They were both absent at the press conference, but their names were listed as supporting the call.
Olasunkanmi, who read the address said, “The candidacy of Senator Ademola Adeleke will further divide rather than unite the PDP in Osun State in view of the fact that a great number of the party members will not feel secure working for him, because of the very controversial circumstances of his nomination.
“The PDP may not be able to secure the support of critical stakeholders in the state with Senator Adeleke’s candidacy, because of his not too impressive public conduct as a senator of the Federal Republic.
“In view of the foregoing, therefore, we the under listed aspirants call on the national leadership of our party to rescind its decision on the nomination of Senator Ademola Adeleke as our candidate for the September 22 governorship election.”
Ogunbiyi stated that he would not leave the party but would not stop to demand that the party do the right thing.
He said, “We are actually facing a challenge at present. It is a storm that will pass and I, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi and other aspirants will not leave the PDP under any guise. We believe that the leadership of the party will do the right thing. We will stay together and fight to uproot the government of APC.
“The good people of Osun State should remain calm. The PDP is the hope of Osun State. There is no alternative party that can rescue Osun State and Nigeria.
“I cannot be a mole in the hands of anybody. With my modest achievement as a village boy with this level of grace God has given me, I cannot condescend to do such dishonorable job.”
Durotoye said the aspirants and people of the state wanted the party to announce the name of the “real winner” as the party’s governorship candidate.
He said although the aspirants and the people would not defect, they would not join the alleged impunity.