The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State on Tuesday dismissed the appeal filed by the senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District , Nicholas Tofowomo, against the victory of a former deputy governor of the state, Agboola Ajayi at the senatorial primary of the Peoples Democratic Party.
In the senatorial primary held at Okitipupa town, Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state, in May 2022, Ajayi defeated the incumbent Senator Tofowomo scoring 78 votes while Tofowomo polled 74 votes.
Being dissatisfied with the results of the primary, Tofowomo approached the Federal High Court, seeking disqualification of the defendant on the grounds of false academic certificates but the court struck out the case in favour of Ajayi.
The senator also proceeded to the appellate court to challenge the verdict of the lower court on the case but the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal on Tuesday.
In his judgment court, Justice Ayobode Lokulo-Sodipe affirmed the judgment of the high court, dismissing the appeal on the the ground that the appellant failed to file the case at the lower court within the time stipulated by the law.
The appellate court held that the appellant’s suit could not be heard on merit because the Electoral Act and constitution stipulated the time within which such suit should be filed.
The court also said the failure of the appellant to key into the period stipulated by the law, which was clearly 14 days after the cause of action, made the case and the appeal nugatory.
The judge dismissed the appeal and ordered the appellant to pay N250,000 fine.
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Source;https://punchng.com/pdp-primary-court-dismisses-ondo-senators-appeal
