Adeleke faults party deregistration ruling, insists Accord will remain on ballot

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has faulted the Federal High Court ruling ordering the deregistration of some political parties, describing it as a breach of judicial procedure and a threat to the integrity of the electoral process.

The Federal High Court in Abuja had on Monday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord and three other political parties over their alleged failure to meet constitutional requirements for continued registration.

Addressing journalists at the Government House in Osogbo, Adeleke criticised the decision, stating that the Court of Appeal had already stayed proceedings on the matter pending further hearing in October.

He said, “The action of the Federal High Court is clearly an affront to the Court of Appeal, an abuse of court process and an open threat to the integrity of the electoral process.

“Our lawyers have taken the necessary steps to right the wrong. It is on record that the Court of Appeal had stayed proceedings on the matter until October. We are therefore surprised that the lower court proceeded to act on a matter already addressed by the higher court”.

The governor maintained that the judgment would not stand, insisting that Accord would remain on the ballot for the August 15 governorship election in Osun State.

Adeleke urged residents of the state to remain calm, saying efforts by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop his re-election bid would not succeed.

“I call on Osun people to remain calm. The judgment cannot stand. Accord will be on the ballot, we will be on the ballot, and we will win resoundingly on August 15. Our flag-off rally is holding tomorrow. Let us troop out en masse to grace the occasion. We will not be distracted. We remain focused on winning,” he added.