The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed the appeal filed by Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, challenging the candidacy of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a lead judgment delivered by Justice Lawal Garba, the court dismissed Ajayi’s appeal, ruling that it was filed too late and that he did not have the standing to bring the case, as he was from a different party.
The court also noted that the matter was an internal issue for the defendant’s party.
The Supreme Court further ruled that Ajayi lacked the legal standing to pursue the case, making the appeal unsustainable.
The court affirmed that the case was statute-barred, upholding the decisions of the lower courts.
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The judgment pointed out that the cause of action arose on May 20, 2024, when the nomination forms were submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Ajayi filed his lawsuit on June 7, 2024, beyond the 14-day limit stipulated by law.
As a result, the appeal was dismissed, and the court ordered Agboola Ajayi to pay ₦2 million in costs to each of the four respondents.
Ajayi had sought to invalidate the election of Deputy Governor Olayide Adelami, alleging discrepancies in his name change and challenging the legitimacy of Aiyedatiwa and the APC.
Ajayi claimed that Adelami had changed his middle name from “Jackson” to “Owolabi” without proper documentation.
However, the Supreme Court found no legal grounds to disqualify the deputy governor, emphasizing that name changes, when properly documented, do not constitute electoral fraud or grounds for disqualification.
Ajayi had filed the case at the Federal High Court in Abuja on June 7, 2024, contesting Aiyedatiwa’s nomination on the technical grounds of alleged non-qualification of his deputy.
Following the defendants’ petition, the case was transferred to the Akure division of the Court by the Chief Judge.
The Federal High Court dismissed the case in a judgment delivered by Justice T.B. Adegoke on December 2, 2024, ruling that since Ajayi had made criminal allegations of forgery, perjury, and impersonation against the Deputy Governor, he should have initiated the suit with a writ of summons.
Dissatisfied with this ruling, Ajayi appealed to the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on December 13, 2024.
In a unanimous judgment, the Court of Appeal upheld the Federal High Court’s decision, awarding ₦500,000 in costs against Ajayi.
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