THE Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State has dismissed the appeal filed by Mr. Kayode Oduoye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the election of his All Progressives Congress (APC) opponent in the Boripe/Ifelodun/Odo-Otin Federal Constituency, Hon. Adeyinka Ajayi.
In its judgment, the court affirmed that Ajayi’s victory was in order and that all the grounds of the appeal were baseless. This spurred supporters of the APC chieftain to go into jubilation.
In his remarks after the Judgment, Ajayi described the Appellate Court’s ruling as “an affirmation of the rule of Law and democracy.” He said: “The ruling is also a victory for the party and the people of my constituency who freely gave me the mandate that was challenged by the PDP and its candidate. The confidence reposed in our party has finally been given a judicial approval.”
He reassured the people of his constituency of his commitment to the overall development of the area, noting that “I have never been more hopeful of a better Nigeria than now, and with your support for our party at all levels, Nigeria will surely get back on track.”
Ajayi called on his challenger, having exhausted all legal avenues open to him under the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to work with him.
He said: “As his representative I enjoin him to bring his ideas for the development of our constituency to the table for consideration and action.”
Shortly after the National Assembly election in March 2015, the PDP candidate went to court to contest Ajayi’s victory at the election petition tribunal in Osogbo. The tribunal dusmissed the petitions and upheld the APC candidate’s victory with costs awarded against the petitioner.
Dissatisfied with the tribunal ruling, the PDP candidate headed to Court of Appeal sitting in Akure to challenge the tribunal pronouncements.