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 to disqualify the party’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, from the forthcoming governorship election scheduled for September 21.
The appellants, Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua, had approached the appellate court to challenge the April 17, 2024, judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dismissed their suit for being statute-barred.
However, the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Hamma Barka, upheld the decision of the trial court, ruling that the suit filed by Ojezua and four others was submitted out of time and was therefore statute-barred.
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In the lead judgment, Justice Barka concurred with the lower court’s ruling that Ojezua and his co-appellants failed to prove their claim that Ighodalo had forged his voter’s card.
The court also held that their case lacked merit, as it was based on the flawed assumption that not having a voter’s card is sufficient grounds to disqualify a candidate from contesting an election.
Furthermore, the appellate court noted that the appellants did not contest the trial court’s finding that Ighodalo had applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the transfer of his voter registration from Lagos State to Edo State and that INEC had issued him a voter’s card.
Consequently, Justice Barka struck out the appeal for lack of merit and ordered the appellants to pay N3 million in costs to Ighodalo, the PDP, and INEC. Justices Usman Musale and Okon Abang, who were also on the panel, agreed with the lead judgment.
This ruling effectively puts to rest the legal challenge to Ighodalo’s candidacy and paves the way for his participation in the upcoming governorship election in Edo State.
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