The Federal High Court in Ondo dismisses PDP’s suit challenging the APC governorship candidate’s eligibility for the election.
The Akure Division of the Federal High Court in Ondo State has dismissed a lawsuit seeking the disqualification of Olayide Adelami, the deputy governor-elect, from participating in the 2024 gubernatorial election in the state.
The lawsuit was filed by Agboola Ajayi, the candidate from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who had argued that inconsistencies in Adelami’s name rendered him ineligible to contest.
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Ajayi, who finished as the second runner-up in the election, filed the case to challenge Adelami’s candidacy on the grounds that the names submitted by Adelami to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were conflicting.
The PDP candidate specifically pointed out discrepancies in the names Adelami had used, including “Adelami Owolabi Jackson” and “Olaide Owolabi Adelami,” and sought the court’s intervention to disqualify both him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the election.
Ajayi’s legal representative, M. Ndoka (SAN), in the originating summons, requested that the court declare Adelami constitutionally disqualified from running as the APC’s deputy governorship candidate.
He also sought a ruling that the APC had not validly nominated its governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the 2024 election.
In response, the defense counsel, Remi Olatubora (SAN), presented evidence that Adelami’s West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate from 1974 listed him as “Adelami Owolabi Jackson,” while a degree certificate from Ambrose Alli University issued in 1982 referred to him as “Adelami Olaide Owolabi.
” Olatubora argued that the issue raised by Ajayi was not the discrepancies in the names themselves, but the order in which they appeared.
Olatubora further contended that the plaintiffs, not being members of the APC or participants in the party’s primary election, lacked the standing to file the suit.
He argued that the suit was not a valid pre-election matter under Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022 and that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear it.
In her ruling, Justice Toyin Adegoke dismissed all charges against the APC candidates. She noted that Ajayi and the PDP lacked the legal standing to bring the case and that the lawsuit was barred by statute, having been filed outside the 14-day window stipulated by the Electoral Act.
Justice Adegoke also pointed out that the matter raised issues of certificate forgery and perjury, which are criminal matters that require evidence from the relevant authorities that issued the contested certificates.
The court’s decision solidifies Olayide Adelami’s position as the APC’s deputy governorship candidate and paves the way for the final stages of the gubernatorial election in Ondo State.
