A Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan has upheld the election of Honorable Samson Olusunbo Olugbemi as the authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Oluyole federal constituency in the 2015 general elections, just as it dismissed a suit filed by a former commissioner, Mr. Lawrence Olujide Adewale, challenging the validity of his nomination.
Adewale had earlier pleaded the court to upturn the declaration of Hon. Olugbemi as the winner of the party primaries conducted on December 7, 2014 in which the latter defeated other three aspirants including the former commissioner of Environment in Oyo State. He (Adewale) claimed he won the primary election and prayed the court to sack Olugbemi from the House of Representatives, Abuja and declare him as the lawful federal lawmaker representing the constituency.
But, delivering his judgement on Wednesday, Justice Ayo Emmanuel, dismissed the petition filed by Adewale for lacking in merit and affirmed that Hon. Olugbemi was validly nominated by the APC having won the party primaries held on December 7, 2014 and fulfilled all constitutional provisions to contest the March 28, 2015 general election which he also won convincingly.
Reacting to the judgement, the lawmaker, Olugbemi described the development as victory for democracy, the good people of Oluyole federal constituency and the APC in Oyo State. Also, he regretted that the case has to drag for about three years before he could be vindicated over a case which, according to him, ought not to have come up at all.
His statement reads, “we give God all the glory. This was a case which ought not to have come up in the first instance in view of the fact that the process of party primaries conducted for all the aspirants was transparent, free and fair. Nonetheless, we have to move on and be more focused on the quest to deliver on the mandate given to me by the good people of my constituency.
“It is another victory for the judiciary which remains the last hope of the common man and a victory for democracy as well as the APC in the state and, in particular, the entire people of Oluyole federal constituency which I represent in the Green Chamber. All along, I have refused to be distracted and this latest development would propel me to do more for my people and my country.
Olugbemi continued, “with the needless controversies laid to rest now, I can assure my constituents of better days ahead. In a matter of days, I will roll out fresh programmes that would add to my enviable records of performance and I will not leave any stone unturned to ensure that the much-desired dividends of democracy reach all and sundry in Oluyole federal constituency”.
