The Supreme Court has affirmed Ademola Adeleke as the duly elected governorship candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

Oyedotun Babayemi, a governorship aspirant, had taken Adeleke before a Federal High Court in Osogbo, seeking to be declared as the PDP candidate for the July 16 governorship election in Osun state.

Two factions of the party had, on March 8, conducted separate governorship primaries featuring Adeleke and Babayemi.

Babayemi was declared the winner of the primary held at the Children and Women Development Centre in Osogbo, while the primary held at Osogbo City Stadium and backed by the PDP national working committee produced Adeleke.

In a list of candidates later released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Adeleke was recognised as the duly-elected candidate for the PDP.

In a judgment delivered on May 18, Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel, the judge of the Federal High Court, held that the primary which produced Babayemi is null and void.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Babayemi filed a suit at the Court of Appeal, Akure, challenging the judgment, but the Appeal Court upheld the verdict of the High Court.

At the resumed hearing of the appeal at the Supreme Court on Thursday, a five-member panel of justices dismissed the appeal.