A Federal High Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State, has ruled that the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, will not be eligible to contest the 2028 governorship election.
The ruling followed a suit filed by an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Akin Egbuwalo, who asked the court to interpret Section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) regarding the tenure and eligibility of the governor and his deputy, Olayide Adelami, to seek another term in office.
The defendants in the case included the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Aiyedatiwa, Adelami, and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Delivering judgment, Justice Toyin Adegoke held that Aiyedatiwa would not be constitutionally qualified to run for another term in 2028 because he had already spent part of a previous tenure after assuming office in December 2023 following the death of former governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
Aiyedatiwa, who had served as deputy governor, became the substantive governor on December 27, 2023, after Akeredolu died following a prolonged illness. He later contested and won the November 16, 2024 governorship election on the platform of the APC and was inaugurated for a fresh term on February 24, 2025.
Justice Adegoke ruled that allowing Aiyedatiwa to contest and serve another four-year term in 2028 would violate the constitutional provision that bars a president or governor from spending more than eight years in office.
The court said its decision relied heavily on the precedent set by the Supreme Court in the case of Marwa v. Nyako, which established that no elected president or governor can exceed a cumulative tenure of eight years in office.
“If the third defendant is allowed to contest and serve another four years, that will be against the position of the law as stated in Marwa versus Nyako, where the Supreme Court held that a president or governor cannot serve beyond eight years,” the judge ruled.
The court also dismissed claims that the suit was speculative, stating that it had the constitutional jurisdiction to interpret any section of the Constitution when called upon to do so.
Justice Adegoke further held that the legal processes filed by the third to fifth defendants were deemed abandoned because they failed to participate in the hearing of the case. Consequently, the court relied on the submissions of the plaintiff and the first and second defendants in arriving at its judgment and granted all the reliefs sought.
The decision follows an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal in Abuja which dismissed an appeal filed by Aiyedatiwa challenging the Federal High Court’s handling of the case. In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, the appellate court held that the trial court properly exercised its discretion when it allowed the plaintiff to amend his originating summons.
The appellate court also ruled that Aiyedatiwa failed to show that the lower court’s decision resulted in any miscarriage of justice or denied him a fair hearing.
The ruling is expected to shape the political landscape in Ondo State ahead of the 2028 governorship race, as political parties and aspirants begin early calculations toward the next electoral cycle.
