An Ado Ekiti High Court presided over by Justice John Adeyeye, on Thursday, ruled that the Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission (EKSIEC) headed by Mrs Cecilia Adelusi, is not competent to conduct local government elections in the state, holding that five of the seven members of the commission were not independent.

Justice Adeyeye, in a one-hour ruling in a motion on notice brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state through its counsel, Mr Olalekan Olatawura, agreed with the complainants (PDP) that five members of the commission were members of the governing Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and therefore were not sufficiently independent to conduct free and fair elections.

The PDP had challenged the eligibility of the chairman of the commission, Mrs Adelusi; Alhaji Abduraheem Coker, who had earlier resigned his position; Mr Soji Oloketuyi, Mr Remi Olowoloba and Mr Christopher Bamidele Oloje.

The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Dayo Akinlaja, who represented the state government (seventh respondent), had argued that all the curriculum vitae submitted by the complainants (PDP) were photocopies and not certified true copies of the documents submitted to the state House of Assembly during their screening.

Olatawura, however, submitted that since the state House of Assembly, which is one of the respondents in the case, had denied the claimants access to the certified true copies of the relevant documents they needed in the matter, the secondary evidence (photocopies) were admissible in consonance with the Section 89 (1) of the Evidence Act.

Justice Adeyeye resolved all the three grounds in contention in favour of the complainants, saying there were sufficient evidences before the court to avail them of favourable judgment.

Justice Adeyeye said “in my humble opinion, I hereby hold that with the evidences before me, the second to sixth respondents cannot validly conduct, organise or supervise a credible election being members and sympathisers of a political party. The appointments of the second to sixth respondents, being politicians are unconstitutional and thereby declared null and void.”

Meanwhile,the PDP in the state has hailed the dissolution of EKSIEC, describing the judgment as a vindication of the party’s stand that it was peopled by card-carrying members and supporters of ACN.

The state chairman of the PDP, Chief Bola Olu-Ojo, said in his reaction to the court ruling that, “since the EKSIEC has been dissolved, any election conducted by the commission will amount to illegality and the PDP, as a law abiding party, will not be part of it.”

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