Court bars Aiyedatiwa from contesting 2028 governorship election

The Federal High Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State, barred Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa from contesting for a second term in office in 2028. 

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Dr Akin Egbuwalo, had filed a suit at the court seeking the interpretation of Section 137(3) of the Constitution regarding the eligibility of Aiyedatiwa and his deputy, Dr Olayide Adelami, to contest for a second term. 

The suit had the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Ondo State Attorney General, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Aiyedatiwa, Adelami, and the APC as defendants. 

In a judgment delivered by Justice Toyin Adegoke, on Thursday, March 12, the court held that Aiyedatiwa would be ineligible to stand for election in 2028, having been sworn in on December 27, 2023, to complete the tenure of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, and subsequently inaugurated on February 24, 2025, after winning the November 16, 2024, governorship election. 

The judge declared that the 1999 Constitution, as amended, did not provide for a situation where an elected president, vice president, governor, or deputy would serve more than eight years in office, citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Marwa v. Nyako. 

The court ruled that the suit was not speculative or academic, emphasising that it had inherent jurisdiction to interpret any section of the constitution, being a creation of law and duty-bound to uphold it at all times. 

Justice Adegoke also held that the processes of the third to fifth defendants were deemed abandoned, having failed to participate during the hearing of the suit, and that only the processes of the plaintiff and first and second defendants would be considered. 

“If the third defendant is allowed to contest and serve another four years, that will be against the position of the law in Marwa v. Nyako, where the Supreme Court held that a president or governor cannot serve beyond eight years,” the court ruled. 

The court’s verdict also stated that it found “merit in the case of the plaintiff and consequently granted all the reliefs sought.” 

On Monday, March 9, 2026, the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed an appeal filed by Aiyedatiwa, challenging a ruling of the Akure Federal High Court in the suit questioning his eligibility to contest the next governorship election in the state. 

In a unanimous judgment delivered by a three-member panel, the appellate court held that the trial court properly exercised its discretion when it granted an application by the plaintiff, Dr Egbuwalo, to amend his originating summons in the case. 

Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who read the lead judgment, ruled that Aiyedatiwa failed to show that the Federal High Court’s decision to allow the amendment occasioned any miscarriage of justice or denied him the right to a fair hearing.