COURT RULES AIYEDATIWA INELIGIBLE TO CONTEST ONDO GOVERNORSHIP IN 2028
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Federal High Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State, on Thursday ruled that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa would be ineligible to contest the 2028 governorship election in the state.
The suit was filed by an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Akin Egbuwalo, who asked the court to interpret Section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) regarding the eligibility of Aiyedatiwa and his deputy, Olayide Adelami, to seek another term in office.
Other defendants in the suit included the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Attorney-General of the Federation, Aiyedatiwa, Adelami and the APC.
Delivering judgment, Justice Toyin Adegoke held that Aiyedatiwa would not be eligible to stand for election in 2028, having first been sworn in on December 27, 2023, to complete the tenure of the late governor, Rotimi Akeredolu.
The judge noted that Aiyedatiwa was later inaugurated on February 24, 2025, after winning the November 16, 2024 governorship election in the state.
According to the court, the 1999 Constitution does not allow an elected president, vice-president, governor or deputy governor to spend more than eight years in office.
In arriving at the decision, the court relied on the precedent set by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the case of Marwa v. Nyako, which established that a president or governor cannot serve beyond eight years in office.
Justice Adegoke also held that the suit was neither speculative nor academic, stressing that the court had the inherent jurisdiction to interpret any section of the Constitution as part of its responsibility to uphold the law.
The court further ruled that the processes filed by the third to fifth defendants were deemed abandoned because they failed to participate in the hearing of the suit.
Consequently, the court considered only the submissions of the plaintiff and the first and second defendants.
“If the third defendant is allowed to contest and serve another four years, that will be against the position of the law in Marwa versus Nyako, where the Supreme Court held that a president or governor cannot serve beyond eight years,” the court ruled.
Justice Adegoke subsequently found merit in the plaintiff’s case and granted all the reliefs sought.
Earlier, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had dismissed an appeal filed by Aiyedatiwa challenging an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court in Akure over the suit questioning his eligibility to contest the next governorship election in the state.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by a three-member panel, Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who read the lead judgment, held that the trial court properly exercised its discretion when it granted an application by the plaintiff to amend his originating summons.
The appellate court ruled that Aiyedatiwa failed to demonstrate that the Federal High Court’s decision allowing the amendment resulted in a miscarriage of justice or denied him the right to a fair hearing.
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