Emmanuel Adesola and Enoch Adigun, two witnesses in the ongoing trial of governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, said they did not see the senator in the examination hall.
The witnesses, who invigilated the National Examination Council (NECO) examination at Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Osun in 2017, disclosed this during the senator’s trial over alleged examination malpractice at the federal high court in Abuja on Wednesday.
They were led in evidence by Simon Lough, a prosecutor.
An Abuja high court had on Tuesday ruled that Adeleke was not qualified to contest the September 2018 election on the basis that he did not possess a school leaving certificate.
Adesola told the court that he had been supervising NECO for the past five years.
The witness said he would have recognised Adeleke, who is a public figure, if he was in the examination hall, adding that there were four elderly students in the hall.
“I could not identify any student without the school album since it was my first time there. So, the principal and the registrar helped me to identify them as I used the list I had to call the students into the hall,” Adesola said.
“I didn’t see any of the defendants in the examination hall. Senator Adeleke was not in the examination hall. He is a public figure, so, I would have recognised him.”
Adigun, the second witness, said he saw Sikiru Adeleke, the second defendant, but did not see the senator in the examination hall while he was invigilating.
“I was surprised to see him (Sikiru Adeleke) because he was the most mature student in the hall. But when I checked and saw that he had an identity card duly stamped by the school, I had to allow him to write the examination,” Adigun said.
Inyang Ekwo, the judge, has adjourned the case till June 10 and 11 for further hearing.
The federal government had first arraigned the senator representing Osun west, alongside Sikiru, his brother, over examination malpractice in September 2018.
However, the PDP candidate pleaded innocent to the charges and was granted bail on self-recognisance.
…annulment of his candidacy cannot stand – Counsel
Niyi Owolade, counsel to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Osun governorship election, Ademola Adeleke, has said the court ruling annulling Adeleke’s candidacy is flawed and cannot stand.
An Abuja high court had on Tuesday ruled that Adeleke was not qualified to contest the September 2018 election on the basis that he did not possess a school leaving certificate.
The ruling strikes out an earlier declaration by the state election tribunal that the Osun-west senator won the election.
But Owolade, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said the high court’s judgement cannot stand, promising to appeal it in the Supreme court.
He further argued that two courts of coordinate jurisdiction had earlier ruled on the matter and absolved Adeleke of wrongdoings.
Owolade also said that the recent ruling comes after the expiration of the 180 days hearing period for ruling on pre-election matters.
“The judgement delivered today subverted justice by ignoring four critical evidence to rule against validated facts and submissions,” the statement read.
“While we are set to appeal the judgement, we also find it compelling to put the records straight by listing out the fatal flaws in the ruling and why it cannot stand before any court.
“It would be recalled first of all that the matter in question has been addressed by two High Courts’ ruling, affirming that in the face of the constitution, Senator Ademola Adeleke is qualified to run for the governorship office. The two rulings delivered in September 2018 held that Senator Adeleke satisfied all requirements of the law to contest for office.
“It is trite in law that once a court of coordinate jurisdiction has ruled on a matter, court of similar jurisdiction cannot entertain it. Shockingly, the Bwari judge breached this precept to subvert justice.
“Secondly, we want to note that the judge further erred in law by failing to take note of the expiration of 180 days for ruling on pre-election matters. Even when a December 2018 judgement with respect to the issue was presented, the judge chose to ignore it.
“We note that the judge violated the law by adjudicating over a matter whose filing and hearing period has expired.
“Thirdly, the West African Examination Council was also subpoened by the court at the instance of the two APC plaintiffs (working covertly with some moles within PDP) to present evidence of facts that Senator sat for the WASC Exams. The council produced the listing of all students who sat for the May/June examination in 1981 alongside the Senator in addition to the certified true copies of his school certificate result.”
