A federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, yesterday, dismissed the case brought before it by the aggrieved members of the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) loyal to the immediate past governor of the state and current Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.

The angry stalwarts, operating under the aegis of The Osun Progressives (TOP), had approached the court to challenge the legality of the ward congress conducted on July 31, 2021 in the state.

About 2,517 of them had alleged that they were denied participation despite fulfilling financial obligations. Lead counsel to the APC and Governor Mai Mala-Buni, Dr. Mubaraq Adekilekun, had argued that the suit was unworthy of being heard because the litigants do not have the right to challenge the directives of the party’s Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).

Also, lawyer to the Independent National Electoral Commission (sixth respondent), Muyideen Adeoye, urged the court to dismiss the suit, filed on January 26, 2022, for lack of jurisdiction, citing Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution as (amended) and Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) to back his argument.

Ruling on jurisdiction, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, held that the plaintiffs’ case was not covered by law, and thus could not be adjudicated on by any competent court of law.

He further held that the case was not properly filed in a representative capacity, as those represented “are imprecise, nebulous, indescribable and undeterminable.”

The presiding judge said the suit brought before the court was strictly party affairs, noting that the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

He ruled: “The claims of the plaintiffs are to draw the court to the internal affairs of the party which are not enshrined in the Constitution.”

“The Supreme Court has said court can’t interfere with the internal issue of party, unless it falls under Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act.

“The plaintiffs are not qualified to be called aspirants in the said congress. An aspirant is someone who participated in an election.”

The judge referenced PDP vs. Timipre Sylva and APC vs. Marafa to further drive home his point.