The Court of Appeal of Nigeria sitting in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by Lucky Aiyedatiwa challenging a ruling of the Federal High Court of Nigeria in Akure in a suit questioning his eligibility to contest the next governorship election in Ondo State.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Monday, a three-member panel of the appellate court upheld the earlier decision of the trial court, ruling that it properly exercised its discretion when it granted leave for the plaintiff, Akindele Egbuwalo, to amend his originating summons.
Delivering the lead judgment, Uchechukwu Onyemenam held that the Ondo governor failed to prove that the trial judge’s decision caused any injustice or violated his right to fair hearing.
According to the court, the appeal, marked CA/ABJ/319/2025, lacked merit and was therefore dismissed.
The court also ordered Aiyedatiwa to pay N2 million in costs.
Earlier, the appellate court had dismissed another application filed by the governor, marked CA/ABJ/319m/2025, in which he asked the court to set aside its January 27 order staying further proceedings in the case pending before the Federal High Court in Akure.
The case at the lower court is marked FHC/AK/CS/100/2025.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal clarified that the order did not amount to halting the trial court’s judgment but was issued in the lawful exercise of its jurisdiction to protect the integrity of its proceedings.
The court noted that at the time the order was made, Aiyedatiwa’s appeal had already been entered, with the records compiled and legal briefs filed.
It further ruled that the appellate court properly assumed jurisdiction and issued the order to preserve the subject matter of the case and ensure that its proceedings were not rendered nugatory.
The panel also held that the governor’s request for the court to reverse the order it made on January 27, 2026 effectively amounted to asking the appellate court to sit on appeal over its own decision.
The court ruled that the appropriate legal option available to Aiyedatiwa was to challenge the ruling at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Consequently, the court awarded an additional N1 million cost against the governor, bringing the total cost awarded against him in the proceedings to N3 million.
