The coast was yesterday cleared for former governor of Ekiti state and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in Saturday’s election, Mr. Ayo Fayose, to contest this Saturday gubernatorial election in the state, after an Ado-Ekiti High Court, adjourned the case instituted by Citizen Party, CP, and a socio-political group to stop Fayose from contesting the election, till June 30.
That is two weeks after the election would have taken place.
A socio-political organization, otherwise known as E-eleven and CP had filed an application in the court, asking it to stop the former governor from contesting Saturday’s election on account of the fact that he (Fayose) has not disclosed in a form he filled for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, that he was impeached while he was governor in the state.
The court, presided over by Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi had in its last sitting granted a substituted service to Fayose.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and PDP were joined in the suit.
When the case came up for hearing, lead counsel to the applicant-plaintiff, Mr. Norrison Quakers, SAN, pleaded for accelerated hearing of the case in view of the fact that the election in which the eligibility of the defendant was in question would be coming up this Saturday.
According to him, the court was empowered under the Electoral Act to proceed with the case so that his clients would be deemed to have gotten justice.
He submitted that the case was ripe for accelerated hearing because the defendants had been served notice since Monday after the court ruled that Fayose be served through substituted means.
Countering this position, counsel to the respondent, Ahmed Raji, (SAN), said the case before the court was not ripe enough for hearing since there was no written application forwarded to him.
He asked the court to give him seven days to respond to the application.
Raji said the plaintiff could not argue the case orally because there was no written application to that effect.
He urged the court not to treat the case as urgent and should not rush the proceeding as demanded by the applicant.
According to him, the case could still continue even if his client eventually won the election on Saturday.
In his ruling, Justice Ogunyemi, said the rule of law must be obeyed in the case, concerning the issue of oral or written application, citing Section 39 of the constitution.
