UPDATED: Akeredolu Floors Jegede At The Supreme Court

Deji Adebayo, Abuja

In a closed split decision of four out of seven members panel, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the victory of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the October 10, 2020 Ondo state governorship election.

In the majority judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, four members of the panel, dismissed the appeal filed by Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the grounds that it was incompetent.

Justice Agim upheld the judgment earlier delivered by the Court of Appeal, that the petition filed by Jegede and his party at the election tribunal was incompetent because they failed to include Yobe Governor and Chairman of ther Caretaker Committee of the APC, Mai Mala Buni as a party.

In the minority judgment read by Justice Mary Peter-Odili, the court upheld the appeal and dismissed the cross appeal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Akeredolu and the APC.

Odili and two other members of the panel were of the view that since the APC, for which Buni acted, was a party in the case, there was no need to include him as a party.