Appeal Court in Ado Ekiti has halted the judgment of Federal High
Court, Ado Ekiti, which sacked the Ekiti State Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Gboyega Oguntuase.
In his ruling on Thursday, Justice Olanrewaju Belgore, who led two other justices of the Appeal Court granted the application for stay of execution pending the determination of the main appeal, noting that the lower court erred by delivering the judgement on January 24, 2017, while the matter was already before the Court of Appeal.
One Williams Ajayi, loyal to Senator Buruji Kashamu had in a suit
number FCH/AD/CS/21/2015 filed on May 16, 2016, urged the court to recognize his own faction and the congresses conducted in all the 177 wards, 16 local governments and the state on April 30 and May 4 and 5, 2016, respectively.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti had ruled in favour of the Williams Ajayi group despite the pendency of the appeal filed by the defendants.
In the affidavit sworn to by Mr Sunday Olowolafe on behalf of the
appellants, the appellants said the lower court judgment was in
defiance to judicial hierarchical structure, wherein the court of
appeal is a supervisory court over and above the lower court.
The appeal court also ruled today, that parties to the appeal should file their written briefs for the main appeal after which date for judgment will be communicated to the parties.
Speaking on the Appeal Court ruling, counsel to the appellant, Bimpe Olatemiju said it has put paid to the continuous parade of anyone other than the Chief Gboyega Oguntuase led exco as the authentic exco of the PDP in Ekiti State.
“The judgment on which basis the Williams Ajayi faction is parading itself as the State Exco of the PDP in Ekiti State has been put on hold and the implication is simple, no other exco apart from the one led by Chief Oguntuase until the main appeal is determined,” he said.
