Why Ondo Gov. Aiyedatiwa may not get 2nd term

With the way things are going, Ondo State Governor, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa may be the first State Governor in Nigeria to be stopped by the court from having a two-term tenure in office. The irony is what makes this story real.

After former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, contested the 2015 Presidential election with the late President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, and lost, it seemed the All Progressives Congress (APC) dominated National Assembly didn’t like the fact that Jonathan contested that election.

Hence, in 2018, the National Assembly amended the Nigerian Constitution and altered the provisions of Sections 137(3) and 182(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The amended provisions state that an individual sworn in to complete the tenure of an elected President or Governor can only be elected to that same office for a maximum of one additional term.

In 2021, Lucky Aiyedatiwa was elected with the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on February 24, 2021 for a second term of four years.

Late Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, CON, SAN, lawyer and politician served as governor of Ondo State from 2017 until his death in 2023.

His adopted prefix was “Arakunrin”, while his nickname was “Aketi”. He was a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who became president of the Nigerian Bar Association in 2008. Akeredolu was also a managing partner at the law firm of Olujinmi & Akeredolu, which he co-founded with Chief Akin Olujinmi, a former attorney general and minister for justice of Nigeria.

On 3 September 2016, Akeredolu was awarded the ticket to represent the newly merged All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2016 elections as Governor. On 27 November 2016, he was declared winner of the keenly contested 2016 Ondo State gubernatorial election. He defeated his two major opponents Jegede and Oke, to clinch victory. He was sworn in as the governor of Ondo State on 24 February 2017 in Akure, the Ondo State Capital.

During his time as governor of Ondo State, he also doubled as the chairman of Southwest Governors’ Forum, a forum consisting of governors of the Southwest states.

On 29 July 2020, Akeredolu picked Lucky Aiyedatiwa as his running mate for the 2020 Ondo State Governorship election after the controversy between the Governor and his deputy, Agboola Ajayi. He beat Olusola Oke, D.I. Kekemeke, Jimi Odimayo, Segun Abraham and others in the APC primary election. Akeredolu was declared winner of the 2020 Ondo Governorship election on 11 October 2020, after winning 15 out of 18 local governments. The Independent National Electoral Commission announced his victory on the same day. He won with a total number of 292,830 valid votes against his major opponents from the People’s Democratic Party and the Zenith Labour Party, Eyitayo Jegede and Agboola Ajayi respectively.

Akeredolu was sworn in for a second term in office on 24 February 2021. He and his new deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, assumed office on the same date and he was the incumbent deputy governor of Ondo State.

Akeredolu was treated for leukemia and prostate cancer from January 2023, and had a long period of medical absence. On 12 December 2023, in advance of another period of medical leave, Akeredolu signed the notice appointing deputy governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as acting governor of the state. Akeredolu died 15 days later on 27 December, at the age of 67 in a German hospital where he was receiving treatment.

Unfortunately, Akeredolu died before the completion of his second term, so his Deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, was sworn in to complete the remaining one year and two months of that tenure.

On November 16, 2024, another off-cycle governorship election was conducted in Ondo State, which Aiyedatiwa won. He was sworn in for a fresh four-year term on February 24, 2025.

Shortly after he was sworn in, he was dragged to court by one APC chieftain. Akin Egbuwalo, who argued that, by constitutional interpretation, Lucky Aiyedatiwa is not eligible for another constitutional term. Apparently, the plaintiff’s objective was to bar the governor from re-contesting in 2028.

He sought an interpretation of Section 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) regarding Aiyedatiwa’s eligibility to run for governor again.

Interestingly, on March 12, 2026, Justice Toyin Bolaji Adegoke of the Federal High Court in Akure granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiff.

The court issued a restraining order barring Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa from contesting the 2028 governorship election.

Dissatisfied with the FHC ruling, the governor filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure alleging a breach of his constitutional right to a fair hearing.

‎He claimed the trial judge acted ultra vires her powers and wrongly assumed jurisdiction.

Owing to Mr. Aiyedatiwa’s contentions, the Court of Appeal in Akure—where the matter was initially lodged—directed the high court to halt proceedings, which were already slated for judgement. ‎The case was later transferred to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.

On 3rd June, 2026, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, dismissed the appeal filed by Governor Aiyedatiwa, challenging an amendment to a suit aimed at barring him from seeking re-election in 2028.

‎‎The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, held that the appeal, CA/ABJ/319/2025, lacked merit and awarded costs of N2 million against Mr Aiyedatiwa.

‎In the judgement delivered by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, the court held that the appellant failed to establish that the Federal High Court in Akure denied him a fair hearing when it exercised its discretion to grant leave to amend the suit against him.

‎It further held that the governor failed to prove that the trial court’s discretion was based on an incorrect legal principle.

The appellate court affirmed the Federal High Court’s ruling of 24 November 2025, which allowed amendment of the originating summons filed against the governor.

Unfortunately, as of today, Lucky Aiyedatiwa has not been able to successfully upturn the judgment and may not qualify to contest the 2028 off-cycle, Ondo State governorship election.

And the most interesting thing is that Goodluck Jonathan, for whom this law was made, escaped the trap because, in his own case, the court held that he had already done his tenure before the law was passed.