The Court of Appeal, seated in Abuja on Monday, declined to declare the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) primary candidate, Asue Ighodalo, the winner for the upcoming Edo State governorship contest.
The state’s troubled Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, who was previously impeached but was recently restored to office, filed an appeal, but it was denied by the appellate court in a unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel.
The panel led by Justice A. M. Lamido dismissed the appeal with the file number CA/ABJ/CV/642/2024 due to lack of merit. However, the panel stated that there was no basis to reverse the Federal High Court of Abuja’s decision from May 27 that upheld the legitimacy of the PDP’s governorship primary election in Edo state, which was held in response to the appellant’s lawsuit.
In the end, it decided to award the Respondents in this case a N1 million cost against the Appellant.
Recall that the appellate court upheld Justice James of Omotosho’s high court ruling, which stated that Shaibu, the deputy governor, did not have the necessary legal standing to challenge the results of the primary election.
According to Justice Omotosho, the plaintiff did not fulfill the prerequisites outlined in the precedent that would have granted him this legal privilege.
The court claims that no proof was presented to show that he took part in the primary election whose outcome he wanted to be void.
According to Justice Omotosho, participation in a contested election is a prerequisite for a plaintiff to be allowed to contest its results in court.
He claimed there was substantial proof the plaintiff was never there in person at Benin City’s Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, the site of the PDP’s primary poll on February 22.
The deputy governor took part in a parallel primary election held at his home by a party section, the court said, and there was uncontested evidence supporting this claim.
Furthermore, Justice Omotoso ruled that before bringing the lawsuit before the court, the plaintiff did not investigate and use the PDP’s internal dispute resolution procedure as required by law.
Furthermore, he ruled that as Ighodalo did not take part in the exercise, the plaintiff had no right to demand that the results of the primary election be canceled and that Ighodalo’s candidacy be void.
As a result, he rejected the lawsuit for lack of merit.
Recall that the deputy governor asked the court in his lawsuit to grant an injunction prohibiting Ighodalo from being recognized or accepted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the PDP’s candidate for governor.
He said that neither the party constitution nor the Electoral Act were followed in the primary election that resulted in Ighodalo.
Among other things, he asked the court to order the PDP to hold a new primary poll in the state.
In addition, the lawsuit requested a court order barring INEC from officially recognizing Ighodalo as the party’s legitimate candidate. The court denied him requests one after another.
