Edo guber: Appeal Court validates Ighodalo’s candidacy

The Court of Appeal, yesterday, affirmed Asue Ighodalo as the duly elected candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the forthcoming Edo State governorship election scheduled for September 21, ruling that the election was validly conducted.

A three-member panel of justices set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, which had previously nullified Ighodalo’s candidacy.

Justice Inyang Ekwo had declared the PDP primary election held on February 22 invalid, citing non-compliance with the party’s Constitution and electoral guidelines.

Justice Ekwo had ruled that the exclusion of 378 elected delegates from the primary election was a violation of Article 50(3) of the PDP Constitution.

He emphasised that political parties are legally required to adhere to their Constitutions, guidelines, and regulations, and failure to do so undermines the legitimacy of their electoral processes.

Dissatisfied with this ruling, the PDP appealed the decision, presenting 25 grounds for overturning the lower court’s judgment.

The respondents in the appeal included Kelvin Mohammed, Gabriel Okoduwa, and Ederaho Osagie (representing the 378 excluded delegates), as well as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Secretary of the PDP, and the Vice Chairman of PDP, South-South.

However, in its judgment, yesterday, the Court of Appeal held that the respondents, having not been aspirants in the primary election, did not have the legal standing to challenge the election’s outcome.

In a unanimous decision of a three-man panel of justices, the appellate court set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on July 2024, because the trial court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit of the aggrieved delegates in the first place, having lacked the necessary legal rights to initiate the suit.

Consequently, the appeal was allowed and the judgment of the lower court was set aside for lack of jurisdiction.