COURT OF APPEAL JUDGEMENT: OUR STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE CONTINUES TO THE SUPREME COURT
The Campaign Organization for Engr. Kayode Ijalana For Owo/Ose Federal Constituency has received the judgement of the Court of Appeal, dismissing our appeal against the judgement of the Federal High Court which declared Barr. Ghani Rotimi Arobo as the APC candidate for Owo/Ose Federal Constituency.
We wish to state categorically and for the avoidance of doubt, what was before the Court of Appeal.
We did not appeal the substantive issue of who is the candidate of the party. What we challenged at the Court of Appeal was the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to have entertained and given judgement in the said matter.
Our position remains clear and unshaken, that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case ab initio because necessary and indispensable parties were not joined in the suit. Engr. Kayode Ijalana, who is a prominent and interested party who participated fully in the said primary election, and lawfully declared as the winner of the primary election by the Primary Election Committee, was deliberately excluded from the case. This is contrary to the principles of fair hearing and established position of the law that all necessary parties must be joined for a court to competently adjudicate.
A judgement obtained without joining all necessary parties is a judgement that violates Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
While we respect the decision of the Honourable Justice of the Court of Appeal, we strongly disagree with it. We believe justice has not been served.
Consequently, we have instructed our legal team to immediately proceed to the Supreme Court to further seek justice and to test the soundness of this decision on the issue of jurisdiction and non-joinder of necessary parties.
We use this opportunity to appeal to all our teeming supporters, loyalists, and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Owo and Ose Local Government Areas to remain calm, steadfast and law-abiding. This is not the end of the road. Our faith in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man remains intact.
We are confident that the Supreme Court will do justice to this matter.
Engr. Kayode Ijalana For MHR Owo/Ose Federal Constituency Campaign Organisation
11th October, 2026
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