The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has said it ‘vehemently and unequivocally’ rejected the inclusion of Justice Joseph Oyewole as a member of the Osun State Governorship Election Appeal Tribunal.

PDP noted that Oyewole is an indigene of Osun State and had served as a High Court Judge of Lagos State in the administration of Bola Tinubu (the National Leader of the APC) while he (Tinubu) was the governor of Lagos State.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, stated the position of the PDP NWC during a media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said the NWC’s position is predicated on the belief that Oyewole has strong connections with the All Progressives Congress, which is an interested party in the appeal.

He said the PDP had already petitioned President of the Court, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, objecting to the inclusion of Oyewole in the appeal panel based on the presumed likelihood of him being biased against the person of the 2018 PDP Osun State governorship candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke and the PDP.

Ologbondiyan said, “Our grounds of objection against Justice Oyewole’s membership of the appeal panel are as follow: Oyewole is an indigene of Osun State and he had served as a High Court Judge of Lagos State and had thus served under the administration of Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu (the National Leader of the APC) while he (Tinubu) was the governor of Lagos State.

“When the seat of the Chief Judge of Osun State became vacant some years back upon the retirement of Hon. Justice G.O. Ojo, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu insisted on having his anointed candidate, Oyewole, on the Judiciary of Osun State at all costs.

“It will be recalled that it took the courageous intervention of the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Murktar, to prevail that the most senior judge in Osun State judiciary should be so appointed.”

Ologbondiyan said that as such, Oyewole should not sit as a panel member for a governorship election dispute between the PDP and the APC.

“The PDP therefore demands that the President of the Court of Appeal immediately replace Oyewole with another justice of the Court of Appeal, without any affiliation with Osun State, out of the over 90 eminent Justices of the Court of Appeal.

“Our party and candidate hold that justice must not only be done, but also manifestly seen to be done in this matter,” he said.