The Supreme Court upheld Lucky Ayedatiwa’s (APC) candidacy to run for governor of Ondo State outside of the regular election cycle. They did this by rejecting the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) and Agboola Ajayi’s (PDP) appeal, which questioned his eligibility to run in the November 16, 2024, governorship election.

The apex court maintained in a unanimous ruling today, delivered by Justice Garba Lawal, who read the lead judgement on behalf of the panel, that the appeal by the PDP and its candidate was frivolous and lacking in merit. 

The Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts, the Federal High Court, and the Court of Appeal’s decisions about the qualifications that were in question. It said that Agboola Ajayi and his political party did not have the right to file the lawsuit because the issue was within the APC.

The appellant had made a move to nullify Ayedatiwa’s victory in the election, which was held in November last year, accusing the deputy governor of the state, Olayide Owolabi Adelami, of forgery, impersonation, and using a false identity in his registration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). 

In their case, which was first filed before Justice T.B. Adegoke of the Federal High Court in Akure last year, Mr. Ajayi and his party also argued that Mr. Adelami had “Jackson” as his middle name while he was in secondary school, but he has later changed it to “Owolabi” without proper documentation. They maintained that the change of name was a discrepancy, which should not be permitted under the law. 

However, the Federal High Court disagreed with the plaintiff, stating that because the case involved criminal allegations of forgery, perjury, and impersonation against the Deputy Governor, the suit should have been filed by writ of summons. 

Not satisfied with the ruling of the Federal High Court, Mr. Agboola approached the Court of Appeal in Akure, which also upheld the ruling of the lower court in a unanimous judgement. D Delivering Justices Oyebisi Omoleye, Hadiza Shagari, and Fadawu Umaru, the Court of Appeal also awarded a sum of N500,000.00 in costs against the appellants.

To get justice, the PDP candidate also approached the apex court to get a different ruling by filing an appeal against the rulings of the lower court. However, the Supreme Court found no legal basis to disqualify the deputy governor, as changing names did not constitute electoral fraud or disqualification. 

The court further held that the appellants lacked the necessary standing to pursue the case, ordering the PDP and its governorship candidate in Ondo State to pay N2 million to each of the respondents.