Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The Accord Party, yesterday, declared that the Court of Appeal’s judgment nullifying the Federal High Court’s order deregistering it and four other political parties safeguarded participation in the forthcoming August 15 Osun State governorship election.
The party alleged that the suit which culminated in the now-nullified Federal High Court judgment was intended to prevent Governor Ademola Adeleke from contesting the election, but said the appellate court’s intervention had frustrated the alleged plan.
The National Chairman of Accord, Maxwell Mgbudem, stated this in a statement issued in Abuja while reacting to the Court of Appeal’s decision setting aside the lower court’s judgment.
According to him, the appellate court’s verdict represented a victory for democracy, the rule of law and due process, while restoring confidence in Nigeria’s electoral and judicial systems.
He said the judgment had effectively overturned the earlier ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered the deregistration of Accord and four other political parties.
He said, “The intention of this defective suit was to distract, prevent and stop Governor Ademola Adeleke from participating in the August 15 governorship election in Osun State.
“The way this judicial plot failed is the way the opposition in Osun State will also fail at the polls,” Mgbudem said.
He described the Court of Appeal’s decision as a major boost for participatory democracy.
He added that it had reaffirmed the constitutional rights of registered political parties to operate and participate in elections.
Mgbudem also said the judgment had strengthened public confidence in the judiciary as the last hope of aggrieved citizens and demonstrated that democratic institutions remained capable of correcting judicial errors.
The Accord chairman maintained that the party met all constitutional and statutory requirements for its registration and had won elections, records which, according to him, were presented before the court.
