Despite the petition being struck down by the Supreme Court, it does not exonerate Fayose from facing criminal charges for his role in Ekitigate or the ongoing impeachment proceedings in Ekite State.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled against the All Progressives Congress (APC) petition claiming that Ayo Fayose is unfit to be Governor for his role in the Ekitigate plot in 2014, alleged forged academic certificates, the fact that he was previously impeached from public office in 20016, and subsequent voter suppression leading to the 2015 presidential race.
Ayo Fayose has been embroiled in the Ekitigate controversy along with former Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, former Governor Iyolia Omisore, then Police Affairs Minister Jelili Adesiyan, and Brigadier General Aliyu Momoh to collectively falsify the gubernatorial election results last June.
Governor Fayose has also been involved with significant voter suppression and the hiring of thugs to intimidate political opposition in his State, actions which led the APC State Assembly representatives to move toward impeachment.
The Supreme Court upheld the earlier decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Ekiti State Governorship Election Tribunal, which ruled to nullify the All Progressives Congress (APC’s) petition to disqualify the Governor.
The APC based their case off of polling irregularities from Ekitigate in 2014, intimidation by the military under the direction of Fayose, the ineligibility of Fayose to hold public office due to alleged forgery of his Higher National Diploma certificate and his previous impeachment in 2006.
The APC candidate, Kayode Fayemi, lost to Mr. Fayose according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) results, which tallied 203,090 votes for Fayose and 120,433 votes for the former governor, Kayode Fayemi.
Despite the petition being struck down by the Supreme Court, it does not exonerate Fayose from facing criminal charges for his role in Ekitigate or the ongoing impeachment proceedings in Ekite State.