Court declares Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim authentic Ondo state PDP governorship candidate.

Ondo State Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Ebenezer Alabi; Chairman of session, Chief Segun Adegoke; Group Managing Director, Energy Group, Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim (OFR) and Prof. Olu Agbi,

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday, gave a specific order to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept Jimoh Ibrahim as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State.

Justice Abang who gave the order in a ruling on an application brought by the Chairman and Secretary of the PDP in Ondo State – Prince Biyi Poroye and Ademola A. Genty held that INEC was without any reason not to accept the candidate submitted to INEC by the plaintiffs.

The application was for the enforcement of a June 29, 2016 judgment of the court affirming Poroye, Genty and others, who emerged from the May 10, 2016 congresses of the party in the South west, as the authentic leaders of the party in the Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Osun, Ogun and Lagos states.

In a motion on notice dated September 29, 2016, the judgment creditor prayed that;

1. that INEC accept the nomination of Jimoh Ibrahim from the Ondo state PDP primaries conducted by the judgment creditor ( Ondo PDP state executives) 

2. an order requiring INEC to reject any other form by any other person apart from jimoh Ibrahim as the candidate for the Ondo state governorship election.

Learned SAN, Izinyon argued for the prayers to be granted to prevent anarchy and breach of peace.

The court had also, in the June 29 judgment, in a suit marked: F H C / A B J / CS/395/2016, ordered INEC to only accept the name of the candidate sent by the Poroye and Genty Executive Committee as the actual candidate of the party for the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State.

Poroye and Genty, who applied to the court for themselves and on behalf of the Ondo State Executive Committee of the PDP, said the post-judgment application was informed by INEC’s refusal to accept their candidate, as directed by the court in its June 29 judgment.

The plaintiffs said INEC was aware that the judgment of the court relate to five other states where the general elections would hold in 2019 and is in good position to understand the implications of the judgment for Ondo State where elections would hold in 2016, but chose to ignore the obvious implication.

They added that INEC was also aware that the judgment was predicated upon the May 19, 2016 letter of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, which was addressed to it (INEC), confirming to it that Pororye and Genty are leaders of the authentic state Executive Committee of the party in Ondo State.

However in his ruling yesterday, Justice Abang held that INEC was without any reason not to accept the candidate submitted to INEC by the plaintiffs.

He noted that not only did INEC participate in the proceedings leading to the June 29 judgment, it was not on record that the judgment has been appealed.

Justice Abang ordered INEC to “accept and process for the purpose of its functions and activities in the organisation and conduct of the Ondo State governorship election only the nomination of Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim Folorunso, who emerged from the primary election conducted by the 1st and 2nd plaintiffs/ applicants, as candidate of the 2nd defendant (PDP) in the said Ondo governorship election.”

He also ordered INEC to “reject and jettison any other nomination from(s) submitted to it by any other person(s) apart from the 1st and 2nd plaintiffs/ applicants, indicating that no other person, apart from Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim Folorunso, is the candidate of the 2nd defendant for the Ondo State governorship election.”