The appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Eyitayo Jegede, against the election of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in the October 10, 2020, Ondo State governorship election on Wednesday divided Supreme Court justices apart.
While four out of the seven-member panel of justices of the court dismissed the appeal for failure to join Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, as a party in the petition, three of the justices, including the presiding Justice, Mary Peter Odili are of the view that the appeal should be allowed.
Justices Odili, Ejembi Eko and Tijjani Abubakar, who dissented in their judgment, held that Buni, as an executive governor of a state, cannot act in the capacity of acting chairman of the APC.
According to Tribune Newspaper,
They also held that the Yobe State governor acted in violation of Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
Meanwhile, in the majority judgment, four of the apex court justices agreed with the concurrent decisions of the Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal in dismissing the appeal for lacking in merit.
Jegede and his party are challenging the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Akeredolu as the winner of the said election.