The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Thursday, upheld the election of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the November 16, 2024, governorship election in the state.
The appellate court made the declaration in a judgment delivered by a panel of judges led by Justice Nimpar Yargata in the appeal brought before it by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Hon. Agboola Ajayi, and other political parties.
Recall that the Ondo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal had on June 4, 2025, affirmed the election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.
Not satisfied with the judgment, the PDP, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Allied People’s Movement (APM) and Social Development Party (SDP) filed appeals against the judgment of the tribunal, asking for the invalidation of the November 16, 2024, governorship election.
However, the three Justices, 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 Justices 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 parties 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.
The court therefore affirmed the judgments of the tribunal on all the cases and declared Aiyedatiwa and Olayide Adelami as the elected governor and deputy governor of the state, giving costs of N1.5million against the appellants.
Reacting to the judgment, Governor Aiyedatiwa described it as a welcome development, commending the Appeal Court justices for painstakingly going through the cases and delivering detailed unanimous judgments.
While expressing gratitude to God and the people of the state, Aiyedatiwa noted that the judgment of the Appeal Court has reaffirmed the will of the people.
“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 back door, 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,” Governor Aiyedatiwa said.
