Supreme Court affirms Fayose’s election victory

The Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed the election of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, dismissing a suit by the All Progressives Congress (APC) seeking to nullify the 2014 polls.

‎The APC had petitioned the Ekiti Governorship Election Tribunal challenging the victory of Fayose in the 2014 governorship election.

The tribunal on December 19, 2014 upheld Fayose’s victory and dismissed the APC’s petition for “lack of merit”.

Not satisfied with the ruling, the APC went to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that Fayose was not eligible to contest the governorship election since he had been impeached on October 16, 2006 during his first tenure as governor. It also alleged that the governor forged his academic credentials and breached the Code of Conduct rules.

The Appeal Court on February 16 upheld the judgment of the election tribunal and affirmed Fayose as winner of the June 21, 2014 poll.

It, however, upheld APC’s complaints that the military was used to harass and intimidate its supporters and leaders during the polls.

Not satisfied, the APC went to the Supreme Court.