The Supreme Court has dismissed the election suit filed by Eyitayo Jegede and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the October 2020 governorship election in Ondo state.
The decision of the apex court to dismiss the suit comes after the Court of Appeal had upheld the election of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu as the duly elected governor in the Southwest state.
While four out of the seven-member panel of justices of the court dismissed the appeal for failure to join Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, as a party in the petition, three of the justices, including the presiding Justice, Mary Peter Odili are of the view that the appeal should be allowed.
Justices Odili, Ejembi Eko and Tijjani Abubakar, who dissented in their judgment, held that Buni, as an executive governor of a state, cannot act in the capacity of acting chairman of the APC. They also held that the Yobe State governor acted in violation of Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
In the majority judgment, four of the apex court justices agreed with the concurrent decisions of the Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal in dismissing the appeal for lacking in merit.
Jegede and his party are challenging the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Akeredolu as the winner of the said election.
It would be recalled that after the Court of Appeal had dismissed Jegede’s suit on 17 June, Governor Akeredolu, in a statement he personally signed, said the judgment afforded the opportunity for Jegede to join him in the greater task of taking the state to loftier and higher heights.
“Understandably, many had waited in animated breaths for the outcome of this case which commenced from the lower Tribunal to this extent.
“All have seen the scholarly industry infused into this judicial exercise by the most venerable Honourable Appeal Court of eminent Jurists. The issues examined and conclusions reached have further enriched our Nation’s Jurisprudence, no doubt.
“The responsibility of leadership such as that reposed in me is tasking and can only be of immense benefit to all if we set aside politics for the common goal.
More to follow…
