Supreme Court declares Akeredolu governor of Ondo State

 

ABUJA, Nigeria – The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu as the validly elected Governor of Ondo State. But it was a narrow victory for the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, following a split in judgment.

In a split decision of 4 to 3, the court dismissed the appeal filed by Eyitayo Jegede, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the October 10 governorship election held in the state.

In the majority decision delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim,  the Supreme Court said it found no reason to set-aside the concurrent judgments of both the Court of Appeal and the Ondo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which earlier dismissed Jegede and PDP’s case for being incompetent.

The minority judgment delivered by Justice Mary Peter-Odili upheld Eyitayo Jegede and the PDP’s appeal.

Jegede and the PDP, had approached the apex court to void the July 16, 2021, judgment of the Court of Appeal in Akure, which validated the election of Rotimi Akeredolu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Jegede and PDP had queried the validity of Akeredolu’s nomination by the national Caretaker Committee of the APC headed by the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mal Buni and urged the court to determine whether signing of such nomination form by Buni did not amount to a gross violation of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

They specifically urged the court to determine whether Buni, as a sitting governor of Yobe state, could double as National Chairman of the APC to sign the nomination of Akeredolu, SAN, for the governorship election.