The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed an appeal by Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the candidacy of Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a lead judgment delivered by Justice Lawal Garba, the apex court ruled that Ajayi’s appeal was filed out of time and that he lacked the legal standing to challenge the candidacy of a member of another party.
The court emphasized that the dispute was an internal affair of the APC, making the lawsuit unsustainable.
The court also upheld the decisions of the lower courts, stating that the case was statute-barred.
It pointed out that the cause of action arose on May 20, 2024, when Aiyedatiwa’s nomination forms were submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while Ajayi filed his suit at the Federal High Court on June 7, 2024—well beyond the 14-day legal limit for such challenges.
As a result, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and ordered Ajayi to pay ₦2 million in costs to each of the four respondents.
Ajayi had argued that Deputy Governor Olayide Adelami should be disqualified due to discrepancies in his name change, claiming that Adelami had previously used “Jackson” as his middle name in secondary school before changing it to “Owolabi” without proper documentation.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that name changes, when legally documented, do not amount to electoral fraud or grounds for disqualification.
The court found no merit in Ajayi’s claims and dismissed them accordingly.
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Ajayi initially filed his case at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on June 7, 2024, challenging Aiyedatiwa’s nomination on technical grounds related to his deputy’s alleged non-qualification.
Following a petition from the defendants, the case was transferred to the Akure Judicial Division.
On December 2, 2024, the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice T.B. Adegoke, dismissed the suit, ruling that Ajayi should have initiated the case by writ of summons, as his allegations of forgery, perjury, and impersonation amounted to criminal accusations.
Ajayi then took his case to the Court of Appeal in Akure, where Justices Oyebisi Omoleye, Hadiza Shagari, and Fadawu Umaru upheld the Federal High Court’s decision on December 13, 2024. The appeal court also imposed a ₦500,000 cost against Ajayi.
With the Supreme Court’s latest ruling, Ajayi’s legal battle against Aiyedatiwa and his deputy has reached a definitive end, solidifying the APC’s hold on the Ondo State governorship.