Politics
Ondo: ADC vows to challenge Aiyedatiwa’s Appeal Court victory
The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State, on Thursday, affirmed the victory of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and his deputy, Dr Olayide Adelami, in the November 16, 2024, governorship election.
However, the candidate of the ADC in the election, Mr Adeyemi Nejo, has vowed to proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the appellate court verdict.
“The dismissal of the ADC’s appeal by the Court of Appeal is not the end of the road for the ADC.
“The party will certainly explore its constitutional right of Appeal to the Supreme Court in line with Section 233 (2) (e) (iv) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
“Consequently, we repose high confidence in the Supreme Court to interrogate and do justice to the petition of the ADC, which resulted from the irregularities and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022, which plagued the election and the subsequent declaration of Lucky Aiyedatiwa as governor,” he said.
The Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Leye Igbabo, said, “We will need to study the content of the judgment before we decide on the next line of action.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress the winner of the election, having polled a total of 366,781 votes to defeat candidates of other parties in the poll.
Apart from the PDP, the Social Democratic Party, the Action Alliance, the Allied Peoples’ Movement, and the ADC also filed petitions against Aiyedatiwa’s victory.
The parties challenged the result at the state election petitions tribunal, alleging that the election was characterised by irregularities and electoral malpractices at many polling units.
In its ruling on June 4, 2025, the tribunal struck out the petitions for non-compliance with the electoral law.
Not satisfied, the aggrieved parties approached the appellate court to challenge the tribunal’s verdict.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, the three-man panel comprising Justice Nimpar Yargata, Justice K.I. Amadi and Justice I.M. Sani unanimously struck out the appeals, one after the other, for not substantiating the claims of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The appellate court also held that the appellants failed to prove their allegations against the election, as they did not show how their claims affected the election in the various polling units, wards and local government areas where the election took place.
The appellate court also ruled that the appellants abandoned their cases as there were no credible witnesses called at the tribunal to back up their claims of widespread irregularities in the various polling units.
To this end, the court affirmed the judgments of the tribunal on all the cases and declared Aiyedatiwa and Adelami as the elected governor and deputy governor of the state, respectively.
It also awarded a sum of N1.5m against the appellants.
Reacting, Aiyedatiwa described the judgment as a welcome development, commending the justices for painstakingly going through the cases and delivering detailed, unanimous judgments.
He expressed gratitude to God and the people of Ondo State, adding that the judgment had reaffirmed the will of the people.
He said: “I give glory to Almighty God who orchestrated this journey from the beginning and used the good people of Ondo State.
“Over 366,000 residents gave us their mandate on November 16 last year to continue governing this state as the seventh democratically elected governor.
“That mandate was validated by the tribunal and has now been reaffirmed by the Appeal Court.
“While some political parties tried to overturn the people’s decision through the backdoor, the judiciary has fulfilled its role by upholding the choice made by the majority of voters across the 18 local government areas of the state.”
FOLLOW US ON:
