If there is one thing that Mr. Ismail Omipidan, the erstwhile Spokesperson to Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, former Governor of Osun state, has proven over time, it will be the art of manipulation of thoughts with deceptive tales. This truth about him was once again brought to the fore in his recent piece to dissect the ongoing controversy on the outcome of a judgment of the Appeal Court on local councils in Osun state.
Omipidan, in his usual characteristics manner, resorted to brazen distortion of the true pictures of things just to serve his political objective of misinformation. For a starter, it is important to point out that contrary to Omipidan’s assertion, two separate suits were filed against the October 15, 2022 local council polls at the Federal High Court, Osogbo.
While the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suits was marked FHC/OS/CS/94/2022, that of the Action Peoples Party (APP) was marked FHC/OS/CS/103/2022. It is interesting to note that each of the suits were prosecuted differently and so was the judgements in both cases delivered at different dates. Judgement in the PDP case was delivered on November 25, 2022 while that APP secured judgement on November 30, 2022.
In both suits, the court nullified the October 15, 2022 local councils poll and ordered the beneficiaries, most of which are members of the APC to vacate their seats. So, in essence, it was the court that sacked the YES or NO officials and not Governor Ademola Adeleke as Omipidan and others in his party have mischievously presented to the public.
It is even worrisome that Omipidan will choose to hide the fact of the existence of the judgement in suit number FHC/OS/CS/103/2022 after the Court of Appeal in Akure dismissed the appeal filed by the APC over it for want of prosecution. Or, Omipidan share the laughable assumption that many of his party men had canvassed that the dismissed appeal has no effect as it was not done on merit.
I consider it funny because appeal is either dismissed or allowed, and whether on merit or for want of prosecution is just a rationale for the decision of the court. O am sure that the APC lawyers have taken up to reality as it had gone back to the Appeal Court to revive the dismissed appeal so that it can be heard for the purpose of setting it aside.
Whether that will succeed remain to be seen going by a host of pronouncement by the Supreme Court. In a suit SC/151/2002, the Supreme Court in a Judgement considered by Justices Idris Legbo Kutigi, Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu, Ignatius Chuckwudi Pats Acholonu, George Adesola Oguntade and Mahmud Mohammed, held that an appeal dismissed for want of prosecution cannot be revived. In the judgement read by Justice Mahmud Mohammed J.S.C (as he was then), the Supreme Court referred to its decision in Olowu v. Abolore (1993) 5 NWLR (pt 293) 255 at 277 Kabiri Whyte J.S.C. that stated the law as follows: “An appeal dismissed on the ground of failure to file Appealant’s brief of argument is final. The appeal so dismissed cannot be revived.”
The SC also added that in his concurring judgement in that case at page 278-279 of the report, Belgore J.S.C. plainly put the position of the law in the following words: “Once the Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal for want of prosecution due to Appellant’s failure to file brief of argument, that Court is functus officio on that matter.” The only exception, according to the Supreme Court in SC.86/2017, where the Court of Appeal may relist an appeal already dismissed in pursuant to Order 8 Rule 18 & Order 18 Rule 10 of the Court of Appeal Rules 2011 is where such as where the order is a nullity, or made where there was a pending application for extension of time to file Appellant’s brief.
This is not case in the instant APC case as the appellant lawyer, in a letter dated January 10, 2025, informed the Court of Appeal that it no longer hear from its client on the appeal. This clearly pointed to abandonment, and the Court of Appeal, rightly held as such, prompting the dismissal of the Appeal on January 13, 2025.
One will expect that Omipidan, who always tout his experience of covering court proceedings for years as a journalist, to be able to do better than echoing the affront on the rule of law by hiding the fact of the subsistence of suit FHC/OS/CS/103/2022, which also invalidated the October 15, 2022 election. This is entirely different from the suit FHC/OS/CS/94/2022 which Omipidan tried to base his argument upon and until it is set aside by a superior court, the reality is that there was no local councils poll in Osun state in 2022. This is the simple position of the law.
It is quite funny to observe Omipidan’s weak idea on rule of law, because as he tried so hard to portray in his article, it only exists when it is in his party’s favour. If let to him, the APP judgement given by a court of competent jurisdiction ‘can go to hell’ as long as it doesn’t align with his political sentiment. But the law doesn’t work like that, because rather than emotion, it focuses on reality.
Omipidan should concentrate his energy in advising those on his side to take to the advise of a reputed Abuja lawyer, Prince Ademola, who though, is a fanatical supporter of the APC, pointedly urged the APC leaders to acknowledge their errors and take necessary actions to correct them through the courts. And as he admonished that “APC leaders should let the teeming followers know the truth,” I hope Omipidan will drop his political correctness and for once, embrace reality because the whole world is watching.
