Governor Akeredolu loses at Supreme Court

The Supreme Court upholds an earlier decision of the Court of Appeal against Rotimi Akeredolu - The court awards N500,000 cost against Ondo state governor in favour of Abraham An appeal by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state has been dismissed by the Supreme Court for lack of merit. The Nation reports that the Ondo state governor had, by the appeal, challenged a July 2017, judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which upheld an order by a Federal High Court in Abuja, granting permission to Olusegun Abraham to serve Akeredolu through substituted means, court documents in relation to the suit he (Abraham) filed. Abraham’s suit is challenging the outcome of the primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which produced Akeredolu as the party’s candidate for the last governorship election in Ondo state.  Muslim group to Buhari When delivering judgment, a five-man panel of the Supreme Court on Friday, March 23, unanimously held that Akeredolu’s appeal was without merit. In the judgment which was read by Justice Ejembi Eko, the court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and awarded N500,000 cost against Akeredolu, in favour of Abraham. Meanwhile, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state says his administration inherited a debt burden of N220.58 billion at its inception. Akeredolu made this known in Akure while swearing-in commissioners and special advisers, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. He advised the people of the state to refrain from acts that could further push the state into deep economic crisis. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app But his claim about the debt legacy was promptly attacked by a former commissioner for information during the Mimiko administration, Kayode Akinmade, who said that Mimiko left N20 billion in the kitty of the state government. Akinmade skirted the issue of debt and also did not explain why Mimiko failed to match the N38.64 billion left in the kitty of the state government by his predecessor, Governor Olusegun Agagu.