The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed the appeals filed by opposition candidates in the Ondo State governorship election after they formally withdrew their cases.
According to Mediaplusng.com, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Agboola Ajayi, withdrew his appeal through his counsel after wide consultations with party stakeholders. Ajayi also sent his best wishes to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and promised to keep supporting the state’s development.
A five-member panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro also struck out the appeals filed by Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Bamidele Akingboye, and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) candidate, Ogunfeyimi Kolawole. Counsel for the SDP informed the court that Akingboye’s appeal could no longer continue following his demise.
Mediaplusng.com reports that respondents’ lawyers raised no objections to the withdrawals, which effectively ended all pending challenges against Governor Aiyedatiwa’s election victory.
Earlier, the PDP, SDP, and APM had approached both the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal in Akure to challenge the governor’s win across the 18 local government areas of the state. With the Supreme Court’s ruling, Governor Aiyedatiwa’s mandate has now been fully upheld.
