Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, is breathing a sigh of relief after a court dismissed a case questioning his qualifications for the recent governorship election. Aiyedatiwa, who faced allegations from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Agboola Ajayi, about his eligibility, was quick to label the suit as a “needless distraction.” In a statement released on Monday through his Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, the governor expressed his satisfaction with the Federal High Court’s timely dismissal of the case.
The legal battle was initiated by Ajayi, who argued that Aiyedatiwa and his deputy, Olayide Adelami, were not properly qualified to run in the November 16 election. Ajayi’s legal team pointed to discrepancies in Adelami’s name on various official documents, including his WAEC results and a degree certificate from Ambrose Alli University. The claim was that these variations in the names, Adelami Owolabi Jackson versus Adelami Olaide Owolabi, should disqualify the duo from holding office. But the case crumbled under the weight of procedural issues and a lack of standing.
The court, which sat in Akure, Ondo’s capital, swiftly dismissed the suit, ruling that the plaintiffs, Ajayi and the PDP—had no legal grounds to bring the case.
According to the court, only party members and those who participated in the primaries of the political party in question could challenge the candidacy of its nominees. As Ajayi and the PDP were not involved in the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries that selected Aiyedatiwa and Adelami, their lawsuit was deemed invalid. In fact, it was declared that the case, filed well outside the statutory 14-day limit stipulated by the Electoral Act, was “statute-barred.”
Legal arguments made by the defense, represented by eminent Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs)—also contributed to the case’s swift demise. Remi Olatubora, SAN, defending Adelami, argued that the grievances were not over name discrepancies per se, but rather over the order in which the names appeared. This, Olatubora contended, was a trivial matter not warranting legal intervention. Furthermore, the court agreed with the defense that the plaintiffs lacked the standing to challenge the candidacy of Aiyedatiwa and Adelami, as their complaints did not qualify as “pre-election matters” under the law.
In her judgment, Justice Toyin Bolaji Adegoke, who presided over the case, emphasized that the plaintiffs had no right to bring the case to court, noting that the allegations involved criminal matters like certificate forgery, which should be addressed by the relevant authorities. The court’s dismissal of the case was a win for Aiyedatiwa and Adelami, with Justice Adegoke stating that the lawsuit lacked the necessary legal grounds and jurisdiction.
However, Aiyedatiwa’s team was quick to frame the legal challenge as a mere distraction from more pressing matters. “The case was a needless distraction,” Aiyedatiwa’s spokesperson remarked, adding that the governor was focused on delivering for the people of Ondo State.
And while the legal victory is significant for the APC in Ondo, questions still loom over the fairness of the election process itself. Despite the dismissal, the case has drawn attention to the issues surrounding candidate eligibility, name discrepancies, and the power dynamics within Nigeria’s political landscape.
