Court bars Ondo governor from vying for another term

Judgement premature, a distraction from governance, says Aiyedatiwa

A Federal High Court, Akure Division, on Thursday barred Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State from vying for another term in office.

The court ruled that allowing the governor to contest again would go contrary to the constitutional provision on tenure.

Justice Toyin Adegoke, in her judgment, said that the Nigeria’s Constitution does not permit an elected president, vice president, governor, or deputy governor to remain in office for more than eight years.

She declared that allowing Aiyedatiwa to contest and win another term, he would exceed the maximum constitutional limit.

“If the third defendant (Aiyedatiwa) is allowed to contest and serve another four years, that will be against the position of the law as established in Marwa versus Nyako, where the Supreme Court held that a president or governor cannot serve beyond eight years,” she declared.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Aiyedatiwa became governor on Dec. 27, 2023 after the death of former Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, whose tenure he completed.

Aiyedatiwa was later inaugurated on Feb. 24, 2025, after winning the Nov. 16, 2024 governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress(APC).

NAN also reports that Mr Akin Egbuwalo, a member of APC in the state, initiated the legal battle, challenging the governor’s eligibility to contest another term in office.

Egbuwalo, through his counsel, Mr Adeniyi Akintola, SAN, asked the court to interpret Section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution as it relates to the eligibility of Aiyedatiwa to seek re-election.

He listed the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), the Attorney-General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice, Chief Lateef Fagbemi, Aiyedatiwa, APC, and the deputy governor, Mr Olayide Adelami as defendants.

Justice Adegoke noted in her judgment that the processes filed by the third to fifth defendants were deemed abandoned because they failed to participate in the hearing of the suit.

According to her, only the submissions of the plaintiff and the first and second defendants were considered.

The judge subsequently dismissed the objection raised by the first defendant, ruling that the suit was neither speculative nor academic.

“This court finds that the action filed by the plaintiff discloses a valid cause of action and cannot be dismissed as speculative or academic.

“Whenever a court is invited to interpret any provision of the Constitution, the court has the inherent jurisdiction to hear and determine such a matter because the court itself is a creation of law and must uphold the Constitution at all times.

“This court possesses the inherent jurisdiction to interpret provisions of the constitution whenever such interpretation is sought.

“Having found merit in the arguments presented by the plaintiff, the court granted all the reliefs sought in the suit, effectively restraining the third defendant from seeking another term in office,” she said.

Meanwhile, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has reacted to a ruling of the Federal High Court in Akure restraining him from seeking another term in office, describing the decision as premature and a distraction from governance.

The governor reacted to the judgement while speaking as a guest on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.

Aiyedatiwa said discussions about the 2028 off-cycle governorship election were unnecessary at this stage, noting that he had only recently secured a fresh mandate from the people of the state.

“This is too early. Why don’t you wait till 2027 or when the off-cycle timetable will be out in early 2028? Maybe at that time, I might begin to think, wait a minute, do I have the right to contest or not? At that time, one can begin to seek interpretation of some of these clauses in the constitution,” he said.

The governor stressed that his focus remains on delivering on the mandate given to him by voters in the November 16, 2024, governorship election.

“I went into a free and fair, conclusive election, which I won on the 16th of November 2024, so it is still fresh. I have never thought about any other election other than delivering on the mandate that has been given to me.

“Future elections were not in my mind at all because you have to go step by step, stage by stage,” Aiyedatiwa stated.

He added that although he was aware of the constitutional provision limiting a governor’s tenure to eight years, he had not begun considering how it might apply to him.

“I know the constitutional provision of eight years, but I have not even gone into that because I just won an election. All I was occupied with was to govern and deliver the dividends of democracy to the people until somebody woke up and began to challenge it,” the governor said.

Aiyedatiwa also described the suit as a distraction after the political battles he had already faced.

“You ask how I feel. I feel the same way. This distraction will be put to rest because it is a whole lot of distraction for me, having gone through election and survived impeachment,” he said.

Responding to political insinuations surrounding the suit, Aiyedatiwa dismissed claims that he was engaged in a political witch hunt or forcing members out of the All Progressives Congress.

According to him, the party remains dominant in Ondo State, and politics is ultimately “a game of numbers,” adding that he is not chasing anyone away from the party.