OSOGBO – Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has described the judgment of the Federal High Court deregistering five political parties as an abuse of court process and a violation of a subsisting order of the Court of Appeal.
Speaking through his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the governor expressed surprise that the Federal High Court proceeded to deliver judgment despite an order from the Court of Appeal directing a stay of proceedings in the matter.
According to Adeleke, records presented before Justice Peter Lifu showed that the Court of Appeal, during proceedings held on May 22, 2026, had expressly stated that the delivery of judgment remained part of the proceedings and should therefore be halted pending the determination of the appeal.
“It is on record before Honourable Justice Peter Lifu that in the record of proceedings of the Court of Appeal of 22nd May, 2026, and which was put before his Lordship as Exhibit MAC 2, the Court of Appeal specifically pronounced that ‘The delivery of the judgment is still part of the proceedings of the Court,’” the governor stated.
Adeleke urged residents of the state to remain calm, assuring them that the Court of Appeal was already considering the matter and that efforts to prevent citizens from exercising their voting rights would ultimately fail.
“The Rule of Law and Humanity shall prevail at the end of the day,” he said.
The governor further assured supporters that the Accord Party would remain on the ballot for the August 15 governorship election and expressed confidence in the party’s chances at the polls.
“I call on Osun people to remain calm and be assured that our rights will be affirmed and our party, the Accord, will be on the ballot on August 15th.
“We will not only be on the ballot; we will win overwhelmingly the forthcoming governorship election. We should remain calm and forge ahead with mobilisation of our people,” he said.
Adeleke also dismissed concerns that the court ruling would affect the commencement of his campaign activities, insisting that the official flag-off of the campaign would proceed as scheduled.
“Our lawyers are taking all the necessary steps to right the wrong. They want to distract us. We are going ahead and we are winning this election,” he added.
Meanwhile, the governor welcomed a separate court decision dismissing an application seeking tenure elongation for chairmen elected under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State.
According to him, the ruling aligned with constitutional provisions and reinforced an earlier Supreme Court position that tenure elongation for elected local government officials was unconstitutional.
“The court also holds that the sacked chairmen have no legal foundation to file the case in the first place. Based on this ruling, it is clear the Yes/No chairmen’s tenure, if at all they have any, elapsed in October 2025,” Adeleke stated.
The governor subsequently called on the Nigeria Police Force and the state police command to withdraw security support from the affected chairmen.
“I specifically direct the Commissioner of Police to stop providing further security cover for the illegal occupation of the council secretariats by the sacked chairmen,” he said.
The developments come amid heightened political activities ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State, with legal battles over party participation and local government administration continuing to shape the political landscape.
Newsday Reporter