Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa was, on Thursday, declared ineligible to contest for another term in office in 2028 by the Federal High Court sitting in Akure.
Akin Egbuwalo, a state All Progressives Congress chieftain, filed the complaint, requesting that the court interpret Section 137(3) of the Constitution regarding Aiyedatiwa’s and his deputy, Olayide Adelami’s, ability to run for another term.
The defendants in the lawsuit were the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Aiyedatiwa, Adelami, and the APC.
In a decision delivered by Justice Toyin Adegoke, the court ruled that Aiyedatiwa would be ineligible to run for office in 2028 because she was sworn in on December 27, 2023, to complete the tenure of the late governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, and then inaugurated on February 24, 2025, after winning the November 16, 2024 governorship election.
The judge ruled that the 1999 Constitution (as modified) prohibits an elected president, vice president, governor, or deputy governor from serving more than eight years.
The court relied on the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s decision in Marwa v. Nyako.
The court also determined that the suit was neither speculative nor academic, emphasizing that it had the inherent power to interpret any portion of the Constitution as a creation of law and duty-bound to uphold it at all times.
Justice Adegoke also found that the processes filed by the third through fifth defendants were declared abandoned because they did not participate in the suit’s hearing.
As a result, the court only considered the plaintiff’s and first and second defendants’ submissions.
“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.
The court noted that it found merit in the plaintiff’s argument and hence granted all of the requested reliefs.
Previously, the Court of Appeal in Abuja denied Aiyedatiwa’s appeal contesting an earlier verdict of the Akure Federal High Court in the action questioning his eligibility to run in the state’s upcoming governorship election.
In a unanimous decision rendered by a three-member panel, Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who read the lead opinion, determined that the trial court properly exercised its discretion when it approved the plaintiff’s plea to alter his original summons.
The appellate court determined that Aiyedatiwa failed to show that the Federal High Court’s decision to approve the modification resulted in a miscarriage of justice or denied him a fair hearing.
