By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Federal High Court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Monday, dismissed the suit challenging the academic qualifications of the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 16 governorship election in the state.
Handing down the judgement, Justice Toyin Bolaji Adegoke dismissed the suit for challenging the qualification of the APC’s candidates, Hon Lucky Aiyedatiwa and his running mate, Olaiyide Adelami, for lacking locus standi to file the suit.
The judge also held that the case filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Agboola Ajayi, and the PDP was statute-barred having been instituted outside the 14 days required by the Electoral Act.
The presiding judge held that the court also lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit, having filed it through originating summons instead of a Writ of Summons.
Counsel to Ajayi, M. Ndoka SAN, had challenged the eligibility of Adelami to contest as the Deputy Governorship candidate on the platform of APC and consequently sought the disqualification of APC from the ballot.
In the originating summons, Ajayi said the first defendant (Adelami) is known by multiple conflicting and irreconcilable names of Adelami Owolabi Jackson and Olaide Owolabi Adelami.
According to him, Adelami should be disqualified, praying the court to disqualify him and the governorship candidate while claiming that the APC has no qualified candidates for the polls.
Ajayi sought a “declaration that the APC has no validly nominated governorship and deputy governorship candidate for the 2024 election.”
He also sought from the court an order disqualifying the defendants from participating in the election and an order restraining INEC from publishing their names or allowing them to participate in the election.
But Counsel to Adelami, Dr Remi Olatubora SAN, said that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) result has the name Adelami Owolabi Jackson from 1974 and that a degree certificate from Ambrose Alli University issued in 1982 has the name Adelami Olaide Owolabi.
He explained that the grievance of the plaintiffs is not about discrepancies in the name but the order or arrangements of the names, while Olatubora’s position was supported by other SANs representing the defendants.
Olatubora said the plaintiffs have no right to file the suit following section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022 because they are not members of APC and did not participate in the primaries that the governorship primary produced Adelami and Aiyedatiwa as candidates
He said, “The plaintiffs lack the locus standi to file the suit or seek the reliefs set out in the originating summons. That the suit as a matter of law does not qualify as a pre-election matter, and this court lacks jurisdiction.”
In the judgement in suit No. FHC/AK/CS/99/2024, Justice Adegoke Adegoke said the issue involving certificate forgery and perjury is criminal in nature, which required the calling of evidence from the authorities that issued the certificates in question.
The court held that Section 29 of the Electoral Act made provision for who can challenge the candidate of political parties.
Justice Adegoke said the fact that PDP and Ajayi are not aspirants in the APC primary that produced Aiyedatiwa and Adelami as candidates robbed them of any legal right to challenge their qualifications.
However, the court resolved all issues in favour of the defendants, saying the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case and dismissed it accordingly.