Court affirms Solomon Adeola as APC senatorial candidate for Ogun West

By Kolawole Olayinka, Abeokuta

The Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State has struck out another suit challenging the victory of Senator Solomon Adeola as the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Ogun West Senatorial District in 2023.
The suit, FHC/AB/CS/132/2022, instituted by Johnson Akinsanya Akindele and 2 Others as plaintiffs against Senator Adeola and 3 Others as defendants was dismissed by the presiding judge, Hon. Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik on the basis that the plaintiffs lack locus standi to institute the case.
The court held further that the case as a pre-election matter was statute barred as it was filed outside the 14 days prescribed by the constitution for filing pre-election matter.
The judge in dismissing the case awarded N4million each in favour of two defendants, Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) and the APC against the plaintiffs.
It would be recalled that Senator Adeola, who currently represents Lagos West Senatorial District, defeated the incumbent senator of the district, Tolu Odebiyi by 294 votes in the contested primary election for the seat. Odebiyi scored 0.