Supreme Court affirms Aiyedatiwa’s candidacy

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, affirmed the candidacy of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the Governor of Ondo State.

The apex court, dismissing the appeal filed by Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held that the appellant lacked the locus stand to pursue the matter.

The five-man panel of justices in a lead judgement delivered by Justice Lawal Garba dismissed Agboola Ajayi’s Appeal on the ground that it was filed out of time and that he lacked the right to file the lawsuit from another party.

The apex court further affirmed that the case was statute-barred, upholding the decisions of the lower courts.
In its judgement the court emphasised that the cause of action arose on May 20, 2024, when the nomination forms were submitted to 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.

Consequently, the apex court dismissed the appeal with an order that Agboola Ajayi to pay ₦2 million in costs to each of the four respondents.

Ajayi had sought to nullify the election of Deputy Governor Dr. Olayide Owolabi Adelami over allegations of discrepancies in his name change, as well as challenging the legitimacy of Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the case.

Ajayi’s argument centered 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.

Agboola Ajayi filed