A five-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Okoro on Wednesday, affirmed the election of Lucky Aiyedatiwa as governor of Ondo state, after appellants challenging the election victory all withdrew their appeals.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Aiyedatiwa of the All Progress Congress (APC) the winner of the governorship poll after securing the majority votes cast in the November 16, 2024 election.
Both the Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, agreed with INEC to the dissatisfaction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and All Peoples Movement (APM).
However, when the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, the appellants informed the panel of their separate notices of withdrawal of their appeals challenging the decision of the appellate court which had earlier upheld the judgment of the tribunal.
When the appeal by the PDP and its governorship candidate, Agboola Ajayi was called, their lawyer, Reuben Egwuaba told the court that his clients instructed him to withdraw the appeal, which informed why he filed a notice of withdrawal on September 16.
Counsel to the SDP, Adewole Adebayo, on his part, informed the apex court that the party’s candidate, Otunba Bamidele Akingboye had died on August 13, hence his decision to withdraw the appeal.
Similarly, Adebayo, who also announced appearance for the APM and its governorship candidate, Ogunfeyimi Kolawole, equally withdrew the appeal filed by them.
In their separate responses to the withdrawal of the appeals, lawyers to the respondents however, did not raise any objection. They however, expressed displeasure over what they described as frivolous appeals intended solely to waste the time, money and resources of the Supreme Court.
Charles Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, (SAN) represented INEC; Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, (SAN) represented Aiyedatiwa; Hakeem Afolabi (SAN) represented the Deputy Governor Olayide Adelami, while Olusola Oke (SAN) represented the APC.
Ruling, Justice Okoro, expressed disappointment about the decision by the appellants to file the cases which relate to issues that had already been settled in law.
Regarding the APM appeal, Justice Okoro noted that the party only called one witness at the tribunal to prove a petition that was challenging the election results from 18 Local Government Areas and over 3,000 polling units.
The judge said, but for the PDP’s decision to withdraw and the death of the SDP candidate, the court would have sanctioned the appellants and their lawyers for abusing judicial process.
Justice Okoro, while dismissing the appeals, cautioned lawyers against filing such frivolous appeals in the future.
Alex Enumah
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