Appeal Court sacks Kwara APC lawmaker, declares PDP candidate winner

By Mumini AbdulKareem

The legal fireworks lasted over six months but at the end of the
contentious litigation, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate
for the Kwara State House of Assembly election representing Ilorin
South constituency, Hon Jimoh Raheem Agboola was declared winner by
the Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin.
By the court’s pronouncement on Tuesday, the PDP’s candidate for the
March, 2019 poll exercise, will fill the lone slot of the constituency
at the legislature that was occupied by former speaker, Dr Ali Ahmad
in the 8th Assembly.
The Appellate court held that Agboola was duly elected and nullified
the election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker, Hon
Hassan Azeez Oluwanilo, thus ending months of anxiety.
According to the trial judge, the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) was ordered to issue the PDP candidate a Certificate
of Return (CoR).
The court based its decision on the disputed APC primaries which
earlier produced Alhaji Suleiman Abdulsalam popularly known as Sule
Cement as the party’s candidate in the election but was later replaced
with 28-year-old Oluwanilo.
Interpreting the action of the APC, the Appeal Court held that the
party had no valid candidate for the 2019 House of Assembly elections
and thereby declared the candidate with the second-highest votes, who
is the PDP candidate, Agboola, the winner.
The PDP candidate had challenged the eligibility of APC candidate and
his party nomination process at the tribunal following which a fresh
election was ordered in Ilorin South constituency.
While INEC was about to commence preparation for the rerun, the APC
approached the court claiming it was Oluwanilo and not Abdulsalam that
won its primaries.
But Agboola, in a chat with this reporter yesterday, described the
judgement as victory for democracy and rule of law. He promised not to
disappoint the people of his constituency and Kwarans in general.
But INEC reacting to the issue on Wednesday noted that it has since
dispatched its legal team to get the judgement of tribunal on the
development and will commence the process of issuing the PDP candidate
CoR, next week.
Speaking during an interview in his office, INEC Resident Electoral
Commissioner (REC) in Kwara State, Mallam Attahiru Garuba Madami,
noted that, “We have dispatched our legal unit to collect the legal
judgement and they are at the court right now.
“Once that is done, a report will be written to me and I will in turn
draft a memo to the legal unit of INEC at the headquarters who will
then give me the go ahead to issue the Certificate of Return. It is as
simple as that.
“INEC obeys court order and by next week, we will fix a date to
present him his Certificate of Return. It is as fast as that and then
the House will do the needful by swearing him in. I believe we will
give him certificate by next week because we don’t waste time with
court’s judgement. But any other legal issues is not in our purview,”
Madami noted.
In his reaction, the sacked lawmaker, Oluwanilo described the
development as one of the prestige of democracy and congratulated his
opponent.
“I submit to the position of the lordships and congratulate the
opposition party’s candidate Hon Jimoh Abdulraheem Agboola and pray
that his tenure bring more development and unity to the constituency,”
a statement by his media aide, Adio Sodiq, stated.
But speaking on the report of a loan allegedly obtained from one of
the Zenith Bank branches in Ilorin which he reportedly used to acquire
two jeeps and commence the building of a house few months after being
sworn-in, the lawmaker said, “Those that are saying it are just saying
what they like and since they have not confronted me over it, it is
not every allegation that one has to respond or react to,” he
submitted.

Gov Abdulrazaq, PDP others react

Meanwhile, the Kwara State Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has
congratulated the candidate of the PDP for House of Assembly in Ilorin
South Constituency, Hon. Jimoh AbdulRaheem Agboola over the Appeal
Court’s judgement that ordered his swearing in for the legislative
seat.
According to the Governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary
(CPS), Rafiu Ajakaye, “What has happened is one of the beauties of
democracy. As respecters of the rule of law and decorum, we submit to
the position of their Lordships and congratulate our brother from the
opposition party.
“Lessons have been learnt on all sides. The development will no doubt
enrich our democracy and constitutional development as a country. On
behalf of the Kwara State Government and leaders of our party, the All
Progressives Congress, we call on Hon. Jimoh AbdulRaheem Agboola to
join us in the patriotic duty to rebuild Kwara State that all of us
can be proud of. We urge him to see issues beyond partisan lens.”
Also, the Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
while congratulating Hon Agboola on his victory described the court’s
ruling as a victory for democracy and the rule of law, describing the
APC as a party that promotes manipulations and all sort of
illegalities.
The party Chairman in the state, Engr. Kola Shittu commended Agboola
for his resilience and determination to pursue justice to a logical
end, and also hailed the Appeal Court justices for setting aside
interests of manipulative forces and ensuring that justice was duly
served.
The PDP chairman in a statement issued in Ilorin, lauded the new
lawmaker for his belief in the party’s leadership despite the
prevailing circumstances and urged party members in Ilorin South to
continue to work for the success of the party.
“We are optimistic the party would stage a comeback adding that the
head of the present administration in the State has so far shown that
he is inexperienced and largely incompetent, judging by the current
slow pace of governance in the state.
Also, the immediate past speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly,
Hon Ali Ahmad, charged Agboola and Hon Saheed Popoola as the two
ranking members in the legislature to deploy their experience in
providing a clear path to good governance.
In the same vein, the former members of the Kwara State House of
Assembly, under the banner of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have
congratulated Hon. Agboola on his judicial victory.
Reacting to the judgement, the forum in a statement signed by its
Chairman and Secretary, Hon. Abraham Ashaolu and Hon. Isiaka Mogaji
respectively, said the Appeal Court’s verdict was a victory for
democracy and the good people of Ilorin South State constituency who
gave their mandate to Agboola for purposeful representation.
The statement further gave gratitude to God for the victory,
appreciated the judiciary for rising up to its solemn responsibility
of ensuring that justice prevails, stressing that the judgement was a
clear indication that the third arm of government is the last hope of
the common man.
“It’s a true reflection of the wishes of the people of the
Constituency, especially those at the grassroots”, the statement
added.
The statement maintained that Hon. Agboola’s emergence as the party’s
House of Assembly candidate in 2019 general elections was a popular
choice, urging the PDP as a family to consolidate on this land mark
victory to restore the lost glory of the party in Kwara.
Meanwhile, the statement enjoined Hon. Agboola to ensure that he
brings to bear his legislative experience on the proper workings of
legislature as first arm of government when assumed for duty.