The Osun State Government has dismissed claims by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the Court of Appeal reinstated its former local government chairmen, stating that the judgment only addressed preliminary issues and did not nullify the subsisting Federal High Court ruling that invalidated the election.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, clarified that the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the February 10, 2025, judgment confirmed that the appellate court did not rule on the substance of the case but struck out the suit filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on technical grounds.
“The Court of Appeal did not pronounce on the merit of the case,” Alimi stated. “The judgment only found that the originating process filed by the PDP was incompetent and struck out the case. Nowhere in the ruling was there an order reinstating the ousted chairmen.”
The APC had approached the appellate court seeking several reliefs, including the nullification of the Federal High Court judgment and the reinstatement of its candidates. However, the Court of Appeal only ruled on procedural matters, striking out the case without granting consequential reliefs.
The Osun government emphasized that the valid and subsisting judgment remains the Federal High Court ruling in the case filed by the Action Peoples Party (APP) against the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC), which annulled the controversial October 15, 2022, local government election. That decision has not been overturned.
Meanwhile, the state government commended President Bola Tinubu and security agencies for upholding the rule of law and refusing to interfere in the legal process.
“We appreciate President Tinubu for not yielding to pressure from the Osun APC to subvert democracy,” Alimi said. “We also commend the Inspector General of Police, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, and other security chiefs for maintaining neutrality.”
The government reaffirmed that the February 22, 2025, local government election would proceed as scheduled, urging all political actors to respect the judicial process.
