The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure has reportedly struck out a request by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to relist its appeal challenging the Federal High Court judgment that nullified the controversial October 15, 2022, local government elections in Osun State.

According to New Telegraph, the Federal High Court in Osogbo had earlier nullified the elections that produced APC council chairmen. Since then, a political crisis has simmered over a subsequent judgment by the Court of Appeal, which the APC claimed reinstated its sacked chairmen—a claim consistently refuted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Delivering the lead judgment on Friday, Justice Peter Obiorah, in a unanimous decision by the appellate panel, condemned the APC’s misrepresentation of the court’s February 10, 2025, ruling. He clarified that the court never reinstated the sacked chairmen and cautioned the party against politicizing judicial decisions.

“The judiciary must not be treated as an extension of any political organization,” the court warned.

Justice Obiorah further ruled that the APC’s appeal was self-defeating:
“It is a case of volenti non fit injuria—they cannot complain about a self-inflicted injury. Equity aids the vigilant, not the indolent.”

He added:
“If they knew their tenure was just three years and yet went to sleep on their appeal for two years, it is inconceivable. There are three appellants with one joint Notice of Appeal, yet only one party is seeking to relist the appeal. Even if that party can proceed alone, what reasons have they given for the delay? If the APC was sincere—as a party with many candidates affected—why did they fail to transmit records on time, as required by law and court rules?”

Drawing attention to a similar appeal handled by the same trial judge, Justice Ayo Emmanuel, Justice Obiorah noted that the APC could not claim ignorance of procedural requirements, having pursued a parallel appeal on the same facts.

“The sudden attempt to resurrect this appeal through this court will only lead to confusion, and this court will resist any attempt to be lured into unwittingly sitting on appeal in CA/AK/270/2022,” he said.

“Everything in this application shows that the third appellant has not shown good cause. The fate that has befallen them is self-inflicted. It is therefore my conclusion that this appeal lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed.”

As of the time of filing this report, the Certified True Copy of the judgment had yet to be released.