•Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State
The Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, yesterday, adjourned hearing in a suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen and councillors seeking legal determination of their tenure of office.
The matter, which concerned the validity of the local council election conducted by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration on February 22, 2025, was adjourned to November 27, 2025, for hearing, reports The Guardian.
The suit was filed by Onibonokuta Saheed and seven others against the Attorney-General of the Federation and six other defendants. The claimants are seeking a judicial clarification on whether their three years tenure commenced from February 2025.
They also wanted the court to determine whether the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) could lawfully conduct local council elections on February 22, 2025, while their tenure was still subsisting.
Counsel for the claimants, Muhydeen Adeoye, during yesterday’s proceedings, filed a motion seeking an order restraining the defendants from interfering with the claimants’ discharge of duties pending the determination of the substantive suit.
Adeoye told the court that his “clients were being obstructed from performing their official functions despite the subsisting court pronouncement affirming their reinstatement.”
However, counsel for the third and fourth defendants, F.K. Labo-Popoola, counsel for the fifth defendant, Rachael Ojomi, and counsel for the sixth defendant, J.A. Ayanyemi, argued that they were still within the statutory time frame to respond to the originating summons.
The defendants’ counsel requested that the “court allows them adequate time to complete their processes and file necessary responses before the hearing.”
Presiding judge, Justice Adefunmilola Demi-Ajayi, observed that service of court documents had not been fully completed on all parties to the suit.
Justice Demi-Ajayi, therefore, “directed that proper service should be effected on every party before the next sitting, to ensure fair hearing in line with due process.”
The judge assured both parties of the court’s commitment to the speedy resolution of the matter and subsequently adjourned the case to November 27, 2025, for hearing.
