The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate in Ekiti State,
Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, challenging the election of Governor Kayode Fayemi of the
All Progressives Congress (APC).
The election was held on July 14, 2018.
On Friday, a five-man panel of the Supreme Court led by the
Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad unanimously held that
the appeal challenging the outcome of the poll lacked merit.
Justice John Okoro, who read the decision, upheld the
judgments of both the Ekiti State Election Petition Tribunal and the Abuja
Division of the Court of Appeal.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had
declared Fayemi and the All Progressives Congress polled a total of 197,459
votes to defeated Olusola-Eleka and the PDP who placed second with 178,121.
PDP and Eleka had insisted that election was marred by a lot
of wrongs including non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
But the tribunal on January 28, 2019, dismissed their
petition and affirmed the results declared by INEC.
The petitioners further appealed to the Court of Appeal,
where Justice Stephen Adah dismissed the case for lacking in merit, a decision
agreed by other members of the panel – Justices Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson and
Emmanuel Agim.
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