PDP candidate wants INEC chairman, Ayu jailed

A Peoples Democratic Party candidate in Ogun State, Solomon Enilolobo, has filed a committal proceeding against the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, for his alleged disobedience to a court order.

Enilolobo also urged the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, to jail the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchial Ayu, and four others for contempt of the judgement by Justice J. O. Abdulmalik.

The candidate said he decided to drag Yakubu to court over alleged disobedience to the court judgment delivered by Justice Abdulmalik on September 26, 2022.

He said others, including Ayu, were charged along with the INEC chairman due to their actions which he described as contempt of court.

Advertisement

Before the judgement, Enilolobo had taken part in the primary of the PDP  for the Abeokuta South State Constituency I and defeated other contenders.

The court had ruled that Enilolobo was the duly elected House of Assembly candidate of the PDP for the Abeokuta South constituency I when his name was replaced with another person.

 Almost a month after the judgement, the candidate said his name was still missing from the INEC list, lamenting that he noticed his name was not forwarded to INEC in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, but was replaced with one Lukman Atobatele who recently defected from the Allied People’s Movement.

According to him, the infractions gave rise to the suit he filed against the PDP, Ayu, INEC and others in suit number FHC/AB/CS/80/22.

He said, “At the end of the case, I   defeated all the defendants and they were all mandated to comply with the dictates of the Electoral Act by reinstating me to represent the good people of the Abeokuta South State Constituency 1 in the 2023 general elections.

“The judgement, which remained unappealed as of the time of compiling this report, and the three months window to appeal being closed, I have approached the Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta to commit the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, PDP Chairman Dr Iyorchia Ayu, Sunday Sodipe and others to prison for their failure to comply with the judgement of September 26, 2022.”