The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State has raised concerns over the impartiality of Justice Sunday Adeniyi, a State High Court judge presiding over a suit aimed at disqualifying the party’s candidates for the upcoming council elections.
The PDP alleges that Adeniyi is a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and was also the campaign director-general for Governor Dapo Abiodun during his 2015 run for the Ogun East Senatorial seat.
The lawsuit, filed by the Sikirullahi Ogundele-led faction of the PDP, seeks to challenge the list of candidates approved by the state electoral body for the November 16 election.
The faction argues that these candidates are not legitimate members of the PDP, as their names were not included in the official register authenticated by the party’s national leadership following the recent Ward Congresses.
The case, identified as Suit No. AB/484/2024, was filed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Kazeem Gbadamosi, with the plaintiffs requesting the court to determine whether individuals not listed in the National Working Committee (NWC)-approved register could still be presented as candidates in the local government elections.
At a press conference in Abeokuta, the State Chairman of the party, Abayomi Tella, accused the state government of instigating the legal challenge to prevent the PDP from contesting in the election.
He expressed concern that the judge handling the case, Justice Adeniyi, had strong ties to the APC, pointing out that the judge was once the Caretaker Chairman of Ikenne Local Government, Governor Abiodun’s constituency, and was appointed to the judiciary by Abiodun during his first term in office.
Tella called for the judge to recuse himself from the case if he was unable to provide a fair and just ruling. “We want to state emphatically that we believe strongly in the rule of law and have due respect for our judiciary. Therefore, we expect true justice, even though we are not unaware that the judge assigned to the case used to be a card-carrying member of the ruling party, APC, a former Caretaker Chairman of Ikenne Local Government, and the campaign director for Mr. Governor’s Senate bid in 2015,” he said.
Tella also expressed confidence in the party’s growing popularity across the state. “The ruling party is intimidated by the acceptability of our candidates across the 20 local governments of the state and realizes that our party’s chances of winning are gaining momentum as we approach the election,” he added.
In addition, Tella urged the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) to ensure a fair election by facilitating the prompt and equitable distribution of materials to polling units in all 20 local government areas.
In response to these allegations, Governor Abiodun’s Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, advised reporters to seek a response from the PDP’s spokesman, emphasizing the distinction between the state government and the political party.
PDP’s publicity secretary, Tunde Oladunjoye, rejected the accusations, suggesting that the opposition party was merely looking for excuses to explain its internal divisions. “Was it the APC that sponsored parallel congresses in the PDP? Was it the APC that instituted cases by factions against one another?” Oladunjoye queried. When asked about the judge’s alleged APC affiliation, he dismissed the concerns, calling attacks on judges by political parties a troubling trend in Nigeria’s democracy. “The law provides avenues for access to justice, and a party like PDP, though fragmented, should be knowledgeable enough to pursue it if they are confident in their claims,” he said.
