*Upholds Sack Of APC Local Government Chairmen And Councillors, Points To Party’s ‘Self-Inflicted’ Delay
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The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure has issued a stern rebuke to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its counsel over what it described as misleading and unconvincing submissions in a failed bid to relist a dismissed appeal challenging the nullification of the 2022 Osun State Local Government elections.
Delivering the lead ruling in Appeal No. CA/AK/15/2025, Justice Peter Chudi Obiorah emphasized that the APC had failed to demonstrate good cause for its prolonged inaction, describing the party’s over two-year delay as “inexcusable,” “self-inflicted,” and “not based on altruistic motives.” The appeal, originally filed by the APC, Allied People’s Movement (APM), and one Babarinde Nurudeen Idowu, had challenged a November 30, 2022 Federal High Court judgment in Suit No. FHC/OS/CS/103/2022, which nullified the controversial October 15, 2022 local government elections in Osun State.
The court noted that the failure to transmit records of appeal or diligently prosecute the case until 2025—two years after the sacked chairmen and councillors had vacated office—was at odds with legal expectations. It held that “the fate that has befallen them is self-inflicted,” underscoring that “the law aids the vigilant and not the indolent.”
Justice Obiorah also dismissed as misleading the claims by APC’s counsel, Muhydeen Adeoye, that he had not heard from his client since December 2022. The court cited documentary evidence that showed the same counsel had actively represented the APC in related matters during that time. The court warned that legal practitioners must be guided by professional ethics and refrain from making “false statements in a misguided bid to defend a client.”
In her concurring ruling, Justice Oyebisi Folayemi Omoleye stressed that the appeal had become academic, pointing out that new local government elections had already taken place on February 22, 2025, and that the swearing-in of fresh officials had overtaken the subject of the dispute. She added that relisting the appeal “would serve no practical purpose.”
Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari echoed similar sentiments, stating: “They went to slumber and they should remain therein.”
The Action Peoples Party (APP), one of the respondents, had filed a preliminary objection alleging that the APC had been in contempt of court for attempting to reinstate its sacked chairmen. However, the court ruled that such allegations, though serious, were pending before the Federal High Court and could not be a basis for denying the APC a hearing.
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The judgment made clear that the 2022 elections were invalid, the sacked officials had no legal basis to return to office, and that political parties must act with diligence and honesty in their judicial pursuits.
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