Appeal Court sacks Kwara APC lawmaker

The Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin, on Tuesday, declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Assembly candidate for Ilorin South State Constituency, Hon. Abdulraheem Agboola, as the duly elected member of the state assembly.

The judgement, delivered by Justice Hamman Barkar Hkawu, thus, sacked the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Abdulazeez Oluwanilo, and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue the PDP candidate with certificate of Return.

The court based its decision on the disputed APC’s primaries which produced Alhaji Suleiman Abdulsalam popularly known as Sule Cement but was later replaced with a 28-year-old Abdulazeez Oluwanilo.

The Appeal Court held that APC have no valid candidate for the 2019 House of Assembly election in the constituency and thereby declared the candidate with the second highest votes, being the PDP candidate, Abdulraheem Agboola, winner.

The PDP candidate had challenged the eligibility of APC candidate and his party’s nomination process at the tribunal.

It would be recalled that the Election Petitions Tribunal had earlier ordered for fresh election in Ilorin South state constituency.

Meanwhile, the immediate-past Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Ali Ahmad, who represented Ilorin South in the eighth Assembly, have congratulated Agboola, stressing that he would be one of the ranking members in the House.

“This is to congratulate my brother on his deserved victory at the Court of Appeal to represent my constituency in KWHA. It’s all about Kwara, and as the second most ranking member in the House, I hope they both provide clear path to good governance”, he said.

Also, the Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated its member, Hon. Jimoh Abdulraheem Agboola on his victory at the Appeal Court.

In a statement issued in Ilorin, the Kwara PDP Chairman, Hon. Kola Shittu described the court’s ruling as a victory for democracy and the rule of law, describing the APC as a party that promotes manipulations and all sort of illegalities.