The candidacy of former deputy governor of Ondo State, Mr Agboola Ajayi, as the candidate for the Ondo South Senatorial District in the forthcoming general election has been upheld by the Federal High Court sitting in Akure.
Ajayi in the senatorial primary of the Peoples Democratic Party, held in Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state, in May 2022, defeated the incumbent senator representing the district, Senator Nicholas Tofowomo, and other aspirants.
Ajayi polled 78 votes while Tofowomo polled 74 votes. Senator Tofowomo, through his lawyer, Mr Femi Emodamori, approached the court for disqualification of the defendant on the grounds of false academic certificates.
Tofowomo alleged that Ajayi lied on oath in his form submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission for primary clearance.
The plaintiff further added that the defendants did not meet the constitutional requirements for contesting the 2023 general election as contained in the interpretation and application of Section 66 (1) (i) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 29(5) & (6) of the Electoral Act, 2022 as well as other relevant laws.
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However, Ajayi’s lawyer, Prof Kayode Olatoke, asserted that the allegation against his client was groundless, claiming that the school registrar as of the time his client wrote the Senior School Certificate Examination, had sworn to an affidavit in 2006, to absolve him of the controversial error about his date of birth on his WAEC certificate.
In his judgment delivered through zoom, Justice Rilwanu Aikawa, said the suit filed by the plaintiff was statute-barred, noting that it was filed outside the time provided under the law.
Justice Aikawa said the Supreme Court in various decided cases held that the date of the incident was to be used to determine the status of the case and not the date the plaintiff was aware of the case, pointing out that the date of the occurrence of the cause of action was June 9, 2022, and the date the case was filed was July 5, 2022.
The judge dismissed Tofowomo’s case, saying the case which was supposed to be filed 14 days later was filed after 26 days, after the cause of action.
The court held that the case which was supposed to be filed 14 days later was filed after 26 days, after the cause of action.
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