Osun State Government has condemned and rejected a statement credited to the Attorney General of Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, describing it as a biased and politically motivated statement to favour his political party.
Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Legal Matters, Nurudeen Kareem in a statement noted that though the AGF had spoken on the PDP suit, it is important for him to also speak on the relevance of the APP v. APC case, particularly given the Federal High Court’s decision, which was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal on January 13, 2025.
“We extend our gratitude to the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for his valuable insights regarding the judgment in the PDP versus APC case concerning the 2022 Osun local government election.
“While we respect the AGF’s stance on the PDP’s suit, we believe it is essential to highlight the ongoing relevance of the APP v. APC case, particularly given the Federal High Court’s decision in FHC/OS/CS/103/2022, which was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal on January 13, 2025.
“It is our firm belief that the judgment rendered by the Federal High Court in FHC/OS/CS/103/2022 on November 30, 2022, remains extant, subsisting and binding until overturned by a higher court with appropriate jurisdiction. This principle is well established in legal precedents, including the Supreme Court decision in the case of WADA v. BELLO (2016) 17 NWLR PT 1542 433, which affirms that judgments must be adhered to by all courts whether below or above the Court that made the order in the hierarchy of courts.
“Given the significance of this judgment for the integrity of our electoral processes, we respectfully urge the AGF to provide clarity on this matter. The citizens of Osun and the broader Nigerian populace eagerly await his informed opinion, which we believe will contribute to a deeper understanding of the legal landscape surrounding these elections”, the statement noted.
Meanwhile, a civil society group, Osun Democrats for Democracy also scolded the AGF, Lateef Fagbemi who is also former Governor Oyetola’s counsel for assuming the role of a court on the Osun Local Government crisis, affirming that the AGF is not a court of law and cannot stop election nor interprete court rulings.
The group in a statement by its Legal Adviser, Adewale Fowora advised the Osun state Government to go ahead with the election on Saturday adding that the AGF statement is a political action which has no foundation in law.
“We were shocked that a supposed Chief Law Officer of the Federation has decided to speak on matters on which he is an interested party as a lawyer to Mr Gboyega Oyetola and from which he should have recused himself. He is not only a biased assessor but he has no power to stop an election nor clarify a court judgement.
“Only a court of law can stop an election, not an Attorney General. Secondly, only a court can interpret its own rulings when there are differences of opinions about a court’s judgments. Thirdly, the court system has its procedure for enforcing its own judgment and not through self help which the Attorney General openly supported.
“When there are disputes about the meaning of a court judgement, parties are expected to approach the court for interpretation. There AGF has no constitutional mandate to assume the powers and functions of the courts.
“Much more worrisome is the biased refusal to mention the APP judgement which sacked the APC council aspirants. The APP judgement was not the subject of appeal at Akure and so the appeal ruling at Akure has nothing to do with the subsisting APP judgement.
“We are also worried at how the AGF muddled up his narration. Who made information available to his office? Why can’t he approach the originating courts for verified judgements? Why is a whole Attorney General openly supporting self help apologists who took the law into their own hands.
“We advise the Osun state government to go ahead with the election on Saturday. The AGF Statement is a political action which has no foundation in law. AGF is not the court and he cannot exercise the powers of the court”, the statement reads.
