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Edo Guber: Court Documents Reveal A’Court Did Not Void Ighodalo’s Nomination as PDP Candidate
* As INEC includes name in final published list of contestants
Alex Enumah in Abuja
A Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment of a Court of Appeal in Abuja has revealed that the appellate court never voided the nomination of Mr Asue Ighodalo as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State.
The CTC sighted by THISDAY on Sunday, showed that contrary to reports in the social media, the three-member panel of the appellate court had, in their July 22, judgment, dismissed the case of the appellant, Mr Philip Shuaibu, for being incompetent and lacking in merit.
The CTC has therefore laid to rest the dust raised over the participation of Ighodalo in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State.
An All Progressives Congress (APC) leader and senator representing Edo Central District, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, had alleged that the Court of Appeal invalidated Ighodalo’s candidacy and therefore he was not “electable”.
Oshiomhole had made the allegation last Tuesday while appearing as a guest on a popular TV programme.
However, a 60-page CTC judgment of the Court of Appeal made available to newsmen, revealed that Oshiomhole’s claims were untrue as the appellate court clearly ruled in favour of Ighodalo and dismissed Phillip Shaibu’s case with a fine of N1 million.
Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court in Abuja, had on May 27, dismissed Shuaibu’s suit challenging Ighodalo’s nomination for lacking in merit.
Justice Omotosho, in a judgment, held that Shuaibu lacked the necessary legal rights to challenge a primary that he never participated, adding that the plaintiff’s claim of exclusion was baseless, having failed to exploit guidelines for resolution of grievances before rushing to court.
Subsequently, the court held that Ighodalo was validly nominated as the PDP candidate in the February 22 primaries which held in Benin City, Edo State.
Dissatisfied, Shuaibu appealed the verdict of the trial court and asked that it be set aside on the alleged claim that the judgment of the trial court was perverse, and that the trial court did not also go into the merit of his case before dismissing it.
But, the three-member panel, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice , A. M Lamido, disagreed with shuaibu.
Delivering judgment in the suit marked: CA/ABJ/CV/642/2024, the Court of Appeal Abuja held that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case of the appellant in the first place on grounds of locus standi.
The court, in its ruling, agreed with the position of the trial court that the appellant lacked the locus standi to institute and maintain a proper action against the respondent having not participated actively in the February 22 primaries of the PDP which he had challenged.
The appellate court also held that Shaibu’s suit is premature and incompetent for his failure to fulfill a condition precedent which requires an aggrieved party in a primaries to submit to internal dispute resolution mechanism before filing an action in court.
Furthermore, the Court of Appeal ruled that the appellant hinged his case on alleged disenfranchisement of delegates and by extension argued that votes were unlawfully allocated to the respondent but failed woefully to adduce any iota of evidence in proof of his allegations.
“There is no evidence either from the depositions in his affidavit or documents annexed to his originating summons tending to show that votes were allocated to the 4th respondent Ighodalo unlawfully,” Justice Abubakar Lamido held.
“In the light of the above, It is my considered opinion that the appellant, Shaibu, did not prove his case to be entitled to the reliefs sought. The issues are resolved against the appellant Shaibu and in favour of the respondents. This appeal lacks merit and it ought to and is hereby dismissed.
“Costs of N1,000,000 to each respondent,” the judgment further read.
Following these revelations, the coast is now clear regarding the authenticity and validity of the primaries which produced Ighodalo as candidate of the PDP.
The appellate court, in the judgment, also settled and discountenanced the issue of alleged unlawful exclusion of 393 delegates earlier determined by Justice Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja.
Meanwhile, further investigations on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) portal reveals that Ighodalo is the PDP candidate in Edo State governorship election, as his name and particulars are published in the final list of candidates released by the commission.
