Court Delivers Judgment on Fresh Suit Seeking to Disqualify Edo State PDP Candidate Ighodalo

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed the appeal seeking to disqualify the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the forthcoming Edo State governorship election, Asue Ighodalo.

The court in a unanimous decision, affirmed the earlier judgment by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dismissed the suit filed by governorship aspirants Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua.

The appellants had prayed the Court of Appeal to set aside the April 17 judgment, which held that their suit was statute-barred and that non-possession of a voter’s card did not constitute a disqualifying factor under the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

Justice Hamma Barka, in the lead judgment, upheld the findings of the Federal High Court, stating that the suit was filed out of time and was without merit. The Court of Appeal also agreed that the appellants failed to establish their claim that Ighodalo forged his voter’s card.

The judgment further revealed that Ighodalo had applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the transfer of his registration from Lagos State to Edo State and was issued a voter’s card.

The Court of Appeal struck out the appeal and awarded a cost of N3 million against the appellants in favour of Ighodalo, the PDP, and INEC.