Court Delivers Judgment on Suit Seeking Disqualification of APC Candidate in Ondo Election

The Federal High Court in Akure has dismissed a suit seeking the disqualification of Olayide Adelami, the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election in Ondo State.

The court’s decision was made on Monday.

The suit was filed by Agboola Ajayi, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the November 16 Ondo State governorship election. Ajayi had accused Adelami of forgery, alleging that he submitted documents with inconsistent names to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the election.

Ajayi’s lawyer, M. Ndoka, had challenged the eligibility of Adelami to contest as the deputy governor on the platform of APC, urging the court to disqualify him. However, the court disagreed with the plaintiff’s arguments, holding that the PDP candidate lacked the locus standi to file the suit.

In his judgment, Justice Toyin Adegoke agreed with the defendants’ lawyer, Remi Olatubora, that the plaintiffs had no right to file the suit following Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022. The judge also held that the case was statute barred, having been filed outside the 14 days required by the Electoral Act.

Furthermore, the court held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit, having been filed through originating summons instead of a writ of summons. Justice Adegoke also noted that the issues of certificate forgery and perjury are criminal, and as such, required the calling of evidence from the authorities that issued the certificates in question.