The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the victory of Rotimi Akeredolu in the last governorship election in Ondo state.
Akeredolu’s victory was upheld in majority judgment by four of the seven-member panel.
The majority judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim upheld an earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal, that the petition filed by Eyitayo Jegede and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the election tribunal was incompetent because they failed to include Yobe Governor and Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the APC, Mai Mala Buni as a party.
Three other justices disagreed with the majority judgement, insisting that Akeredolu’s candidacy in the election is a nullity.
In the minority judgment read by Justice Mary Peter-Odili, the court upheld the appeal and dismissed the cross appeal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Akeredolu and the APC.
Odili and two other members of the panel were of the view that since the APC, for which Buni acted, was a party in the case, there was no need to include him as a party.
INEC had declared Akeredolu as the winner of the October 10, 2020 governorship election, having polled a total of 292,830 votes to defeat Jegede, who secured 195,791 votes.
Jegede had approached the tribunal to challenge Akeredolu’s reelection on the ground that the poll was marred by irregularities, violence and intimidation of eligible voters.
He also argued that Akeredolu and Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the deputy governorship candidate, were not duly nominated by their party.
