The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the candidacy of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State.
In the 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 nomination, as he belongs to a different party. The court further held that the matter was an internal affair of the APC and reaffirmed the decisions of the lower courts.
The judgment stated that the cause of action arose on May 20, 2024, when the nomination forms were submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while Ajayi only filed his suit at the Federal High Court on June 7, 2024—well beyond the 14-day limit prescribed by law.
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 sought to nullify the election of Deputy Governor Olayide Adelami, citing alleged discrepancies in his name change. He claimed that Adelami, who previously had “Jackson” as his middle name in secondary school, later changed it to “Owolabi” without proper documentation.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that a legally documented name change does not constitute electoral fraud or grounds for disqualification.
Ajayi initially filed the case at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on June 7, 2024, but it was later transferred to the Akure Judicial Division. On December 2, 2024, Justice T.B. Adegoke of the Federal High Court dismissed the case, citing the precedent set in APC v. Obaseki. The court ruled that Ajayi should have filed the suit by writ of summons since he made criminal allegations of forgery, perjury, and impersonation.
Dissatisfied, Ajayi appealed to the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on December 13, 2024. In a unanimous judgment, Justices Oyebisi Omoleye, Hadiza Shagari, and Fadawu Umaru upheld the Federal High Court’s decision and imposed ₦500,000 in costs against Ajayi.
With the Supreme Court’s latest ruling, the legal battle over Aiyedatiwa’s candidacy has been conclusively settled.
