Fayemi wins as supreme court dismisses Oni’s appeal

The supreme court has dismissed the suit of Segun Oni, a former governor of Ekiti state, who challenged the candidature of Kayode Fayemi.

Oni had filed the suit after losing the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket to Fayemi in 2018.

In a unanimous judgement on Wednesday, the five-man panel held that the appeal by Oni was without merit.

In the lead judgement, Amiru Sanusi held that the case was not opened at the trial court, within the required time, as stipulated under the Forth Alteration Act.

The judge explained that the records showed that Oni filed his case at the trial court 42 days after the cause of action instead of within 14 days as required by the constitution.

Sanusi, therefore, noted that the appellant was clearly in breach of the provision, adding that the suit became incompetent the moment the rule was not observed.

Oni, a former governor of the state had failed to clinch the gubernatorial ticket of the party after coming second behind the incumbent governor.

He, however expressed dissatisfaction with the process as he argued that the governor was not legally qualified to take part in the contest having not resigned his position as minister during the primary.

Oni submitted that Fayemi participated in the party’s primary on May 12, 2018, before he officially resigned on May 30, 2018.

He argued that the constitution had mandated public office holders to resign their positions at least 30 days before contesting elective position.

According to him, Fayemi’s action is in gross violation of the 1999 constitution, as amended, as well as APC guidelines.

Both the high court in Ekiti and the court of appeal, Abuja had earlier dismissed Oni’s suit for lacking in merit.