Appeal court reserves judgment on Ekiti assembly seat

The judge told the parties after listening to the briefs adopted by their counsel that the court would communicate the date of judgment to them. Counsel to Arogundade, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), in adopting his brief of argument, urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court which sacked his client as lawmaker. Counsel to Obayemi, Mr. Olayinka Sokoya, urged the court to refuse the appeal with substantial cost. The appeal was filed by the lawmaker representing the constituency, Musa Arogundade, against the judgment of the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti which declared Mr. Toyin Obayemi as the valid candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the April 11, 2015 Assembly poll. The Federal High Court presided over by Justice Taiwo Taiwo had on July 4, 2016 nullified Arogundade’s election and ordered him to refund all salaries, allowances and emoluments he had received since his inauguration. The lower court held that Arogundade fraudulently obtained a Federal High Court, Abuja order to validate his candidacy and that he served as an agent to another contestant, Mr. Odunayo Talabi, at the poll and was never a candidate. Dissatisfied with the judgment, Arogundade filed an appeal and joined Obayemi, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Talabi and PDP as Respondents.]]>