A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has nullified the candidacy of a senator, Ademola Adeleke, as the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party in the September 2018 gubernatorial elections.

The court, presided by Othman Musa, made the decision after it ruled that Mr Adeleke failed to prove in court that he graduated from a secondary school, as required by section 177 of the Nigerian constitution.

Mr Adeleke had contested the election against other candidates, including that of the All Progressives Congress, Adegboga Oyetola.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared Mr Oyetola winner after a re-run election was conducted in parts of the state on September 27.

But on March 22, the state election tribunal nullified Mr Oyetola’s victory, and gave it to Mr Adeleke. It

asked INEC to issue a certificate of return to Mr Adeleke.

The APC candidate is challenging the decision at the Court of Appeal, Premium Times reports.

In the latest judgment, the FCT High Court said Mr Adeleke provided a fake document for his West African Examination Council senior school certificate.

The court also said Mr Adeleke had no way of showing that he graduated from the Muslim High School, Ede, Osun State, since information about him were not contained in the school’s list of documents after 1980.

Mr Adeleke had told the court through his lawyers that he enrolled in the school in 1976 and graduated after writing his WAEC exams in 1981.

Following a request by the court, Mr Adeleke had also provided a list of students who took part in that year’s WAEC exams and his results obtained from the said examination.

But in the judgement, the court said the WAEC results presented by Mr Adeleke appeared different from those brought by the school.

The court also said Mr Adeleke’s name only featured among the list of students who took part in the English Language examination for that year.

The judge therefore decided that Mr Adeleke failed to prove that he had fulfilled the requirements necessary for participation in the September election.

Mr Adeleke said he plans to challenge the ruling.