EDO ELECTIONS: Court of Appeal upholds ruling on suit seeking Ighodalo’s disqualification

The Court of Appeal, Abuja division, on Friday, dismissed an appeal filed by two governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, seeking the disqualification of the party’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, from the forthcoming governorship election slated for September 21.

The appellants, Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua, have appealed to the court of appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court Abuja dated April 17, 2024, which dismissed their suit as stale.

However, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Hamma Barka, upheld the decision of the first instance court, ruling that the lawsuit filed by Ojezua and four others was filed out of time and had therefore expired.

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In the main ruling, Justice Barka agreed with the lower court’s ruling that Ojezua and his co-appellants failed to prove their claim that Ighodalo had forged his voter card.

The court also ruled that their case was without merit, as it was based on the mistaken assumption that not having a voter card was sufficient reason to disqualify a candidate from contesting an election.

The appellate court further noted that the appellants did not dispute the finding of the trial court that Ighodalo had applied to the National Electoral Commission (NCC) to transfer his voter registration from Lagos State to Edo State and that the NCC had issued him a voter card.

Justice Barka therefore dismissed the appeal as without merit and ordered the plaintiffs to pay costs of N3 million to Ighodalo, the PDP and INEC. Justices Usman Musale and Okon Abang, who were also on the panel, agreed with the main judgment.

The ruling effectively ends legal challenges to Ighodalo’s candidacy and paves the way for his participation in the upcoming governorship election in Edo State.

EDO POLL: Court of Appeal upholds ruling on suit seeking Ighodalo’s disqualification first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.