The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the last governorship election in Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi challenging the competence of the joint ticket of Lucky Aitedatiwa and his running mate in the election, Olayide Adelami.
In a judgment on Tuesday, a five-member panel, presided over by Justice Mohammed Garba, was unanimous in holding that the appeal was without merit and that the appellants lacked the locus standi to query Adelami’s nomination being from another party.
The court added that the matter is an internal affair of the defendant’s party.
The apex court held that the appellants lacked the locus standi to pursue the case, rendering the appeal unsustainable.
The judgment emphasised that the cause of action arose on May 20, 2024, when the nomination forms were submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while the appellants filed their suit at the Federal High Court on June 7, 2024, well beyond the 14-day limit prescribed by law.
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Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, with the court ordering Agboola Ajayi to pay the ₦2 million in costs to each of the four respondents.
Ajayi had sought to nullify the election of Deputy Governor, Olayide Adelami, over allegations of discrepancies in his name change, as well as challenging the legitimacy of Aiyedatiwa and the APC in the case.
Ajayi’s argument centred on the claim that Adelami, who previously had “Jackson” as his middle name while in secondary school, had changed it to “Owolabi” without proper documentation.
However, the Supreme Court found no legal basis to disqualify the deputy governor on these grounds, emphasizing that name changes, when properly documented, do not constitute electoral fraud or disqualification.
Ajayi filed the case at the Federal High Court, Abuja on 7th June 2024, challenging the nomination of Aiyedatiwa on the technical ground of alleged non-qualification of his Deputy. Upon the petition of the defendants, the case was transferred to the Akure judicial division of the Court by the Chief Judge.
The Federal High Court dismissed the case in the judgment delivered by Justice T.B. Adegoke on December 2, 2024. The trial Court relied on the case of APC v Obaseki to hold that since the plaintiff (Agboola) made criminal allegations of forgery, perjury and impersonation against the Deputy Governor, he should have commenced the suit by way of writ of summons.
Dissatisfied with the judgment of the Federal High Court, Agboola Ajayi appealed against it to the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, through a Notice of Appeal filed on December 13, 2024.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by Honourable Justices Oyebisi Omoleye, Hadiza Shagari and Fadawu Umaru, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and upheld the findings and decisions of the Federal High Court with an award of N500,000:00 costs against the appellant
Ajayi had sought to nullify Aiyedatiwa’s victory, accusing the Deputy Governor, Olayide Adelami of forgery, False identity, Falsification of Documents