Ondo gov’ship: Akeredolu in narrow escape at Supreme Court
It will boost APC’s strength — Buhari Judgment a warning to APC — Keyamo PDP, APC, Jegede react
The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State. The apex court, in a split decision of four-to-three, dismissed the appeal brought by Eyitayo Jedege, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the October 10, 2020 governorship election.
The majority judgment of the seven-member panel, which was read by Justice Emmanuel Agim yesterday, said it found no reason to set aside the concurrent judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Ondo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal which had dismissed Jegede’s petition for lack of merit.
But Justice Mary Odili, in a dissenting minority verdict, upheld Jegede’s appeal that the nomination of Akeredolu, which was signed by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State was not valid under Section 183 of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999.
Reacting, counsel to Governor Akeredolu, Niyi Akintola (SAN) said he was elated that “wise counsel prevailed.”
The PDP candidate had challenged the APC primary election which produced Akeredolu, saying it violated Section 87 of the Electoral Act and Article 20 of the APC constitution and other relevant election guidelines.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement issued yesterday by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, urged the governor and all elected leaders of the ruling party to always place the people first in their consideration of development programmes and projects.
The president said the popularity of the APC would continue to depend on performance and acceptance by the electorate.
Buhari commended the Ondo State governor for working for the development of the state with reforms that continued to “attract the goodwill of investors” and insistence that education, health and security took priority.
Buhari said the Supreme Court judgement, proceeded by that of the Court of Appeal, further bolstered the strength and reach of the APC and its bright chances of consolidation in coming elections.
Similarly, the APC has rejoiced with the government and people of Ondo State over the Supreme Court decision upholding the victory of the state governor.
Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe in a statement yesterday said, “Fondly and popularly referred to as ‘Aketi’, the Governor Akeredolu administration is now poised to redouble the tempo of quality service delivery and consolidate its giant strides in the critical areas of education, healthcare delivery, infrastructure development, security, youth empowerment and industrialization.”
Eyitayo Jegede (SAN)
has also congratulated Governor Akeredolu on his victory at the Supreme Court.
In a statement he signed yesterday, and made available to newsmen, Jegede said the outcome of the judgement has not in any way diminished his respect and reverence for the judiciary and justices of the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the split judgment by the Supreme Court showed that there was merit in its appeal.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP noted that the majority judgement as presented by the Supreme Court did not address the alleged impunity in the action of Yobe Governor Mai Mala Buni in functioning as chairman of the APC while at the same time holding office as a sitting governor, contrary to the provisions of Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as well as the constitution of the APC.
“The fact that three justices out of the seven-man panel upheld our position on the illegality of Akeredolu’s nomination confirms that his candidacy is cancerous and a brazen violation of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as well as the constitution of the APC,” PDP said.
Judgement a warning to APC — Keyamo
The Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has said with the judgement, the APC must halt all preparations and conduct of congresses nationwide forthwith.
“The little technical point that saved Governor Akeredolu was that Jegede failed to join Governor Mai Mala Buni in the suit,” Keyamo wrote in a leaked memo.
“Jegede was challenging the competence of Gov. Mai Mala Buni as a sitting governor to run the affairs of the APC as chairman of the caretaker committee.
“He contends that this is against Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution which states that a sitting governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever.
“Therefore, any other person affected by the actions of the Buniled committee will henceforth not fail to join him in any subsequent case in court. These include any subsequent election matter in any part of this country and all the APC congresses that are about to hold.
“The planned congresses across the country slated for this weekend must immediately be suspended because it will be an exercise in futility as analysed above. The competence of Gov. Mai Mala Buni to organise the congresses has been called to question by the Supreme Court.
“The NEC of the party can urgently meet and consider and reconstitute the CECPC to exclude, not only Gov. Buni, but anyone holding any executive position in any government establishment as stipulated in Article 17 of the APC Constitution,” Keyamo said.