The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed an appeal filed by Agboola Ajayi, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State guber election against the candidacy of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
While dismissing the appeal, the apex court ordered Agboola Ajayi to pay the ₦2 million in costs to each of the four respondents.
In the lead Judgment delivered by Justice Lawal Garba, the Supreme Court dismissed Agboola Ajayi’s appeal on the ground that it statute-barred and that he lacked the right to file the lawsuit being from another party.
The court affirmed 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.
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 was 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.
Agboola Ajayi later 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
