By Amah
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A Federal High Court sitting in Akure has ruled that the Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, cannot contest the 2028 governorship election, as permitting him to seek another four-year term after the current one would contravene the constitutional limit of eight years in office for elected executives in Nigeria.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Adegoke declared that the tenure calculation arising from Aiyedatiwa’s assumption of office places a constitutional cap on how long he can remain governor.
The controversy traces back to the political transition that followed the death of Ondo State’s former governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, in December 2023. As deputy governor at the time, Aiyedatiwa was sworn in on December 27, 2023, to complete the remainder of Akeredolu’s tenure.
Less than a year later, Aiyedatiwa contested and won the November 16, 2024 governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC. He subsequently took another oath of office on February 24, 2025, beginning a fresh four-year term as a duly elected governor.
The dual oath-taking became the core of a constitutional debate over how Nigeria’s tenure limits apply to leaders who complete the unfinished terms of their predecessors.
The suit was filed by a member of the APC, Dr. Akin Egbuwalo, through his counsel, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN). The plaintiff asked the court to interpret Sections 137(3) and 182(3) of the Constitution, which address tenure limits for presidents and governors who step in to complete a predecessor’s term.
Egbuwalo argued that because Aiyedatiwa had already taken an oath of office as a successor governor and later another as an elected governor, he cannot legally seek two additional full terms. In his view, the constitution permits only one further term under such circumstances.
The defendants listed in the case included the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Attorney-General of the Federation, Governor Aiyedatiwa himself, the APC, and Ondo’s deputy governor, Dr. Olayide Adelami.
However, Justice Adegoke noted that the third to fifth defendants failed to actively participate in the proceedings. Their filings were, therefore, treated as abandoned, leaving the court to rely largely on the arguments presented by the plaintiff and the first two defendants.
In reaching its decision, the court leaned heavily on the precedent established by the Marwa v. Nyako, a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Nigeria that clarified the tenure limits of governors who assume office mid-term.
That judgment firmly established that no governor or president may remain in office beyond a cumulative eight-year period, regardless of the circumstances under which they assumed office.
Justice Adegoke held that allowing Aiyedatiwa to contest and potentially serve another four-year term in 2028 would effectively push his tenure beyond that constitutional ceiling.
“If the third defendant is allowed to contest and serve another four years, that will be against the position of the law in Marwa v. Nyako, where the Supreme Court held that a president or governor cannot serve beyond eight years,” the court ruled.
The court ultimately upheld all the reliefs sought by the plaintiff, effectively declaring that Aiyedatiwa cannot legally seek re-election in 2028.
The decision introduces a significant constitutional constraint on the governor’s political future and may reshape the succession dynamics within Ondo State’s ruling party ahead of the next election cycle.
Legal observers say the judgment also reinforces a broader principle embedded in Nigeria’s constitutional democracy: that executive power must be strictly time-bound, regardless of the circumstances under which a leader ascends to office.
For now, the ruling stands as a reminder that even the complexities of political succession cannot override the constitutional guardrails designed to prevent prolonged occupancy of executive power. However, the matter may not be fully settled yet, as the decision could still be tested on appeal in higher courts.
