The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Tuesday affirmed Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the governor of Ondo State.
Justice Lawal Garba delivered the lead judgement of the apex court while dismissing the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Agboola Ajayi.
Aiyedatiwa was inaugurated two weeks ago as the governor of Ondo State, officially commencing his first full four-year term after stepping into office following the passing of former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in 2023.
He subsequently emerged victorious in the November 16, 2024, governorship election, defeating his main opponent from the PDP, Hon. Agboola Ajayi.
He was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, having achieved an unprecedented victory in all 18 local government areas of the state.
Aiyedatiwa won with over 366,000 votes, defeating his main rival and former deputy governor Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party who came second with 117,000 votes.
But the governor faced legal battles from Agboola from the Federal High Court up to the Supreme Court.
At the appeal court, Agboola promoted the allegations of forgery, perjury and impersonation against Aiyedatiwa, urging the appeal court to declare Aiyedatiwa’s candidacy, a nullity.
But the appeal court dismissed the appeal, agreeing with the Federal High Court that Agboola’s case was not properly commenced and constituted in line with relevant laws.
Passing the apex court verdict on Tuesday, Garba held that the court cannot delve into the “internal affair of the defendant’s party”, regarding Aiyedatiwa’s candidacy.
The apex court declared that the appellants lacked the locus standi( legal right) to challenge the emergence of another political party’s flagbearer.
Furthermore, the apex court held that the matter was filed out of the constitutional time required, in contravention of the 14-day limit prescribed by law.
Subsequently, the apex court dismissed the appeal and awarded N2 million cost against Agboola Ajayi.
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.