The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua, governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, seeking to disqualify the party’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, from the upcoming September 21 governorship election.... CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
In the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/863/2024, Esene and Ojezua challenged the April 17 judgment by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dismissed their suit as “statute barred.”
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The plaintiffs had alleged that Ighodalo forged his voter’s card, a claim Justice Omotosho ruled they failed to prove. He also noted that the “non-possession of a voter’s card did not constitute a disqualifying factor under the Constitution and the Electoral Act.”
In the lead judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Hamma Barka upheld Justice Omotosho’s decision, affirming that the suit filed by Ojezua and others was “filed out of time and statute barred.”
Justice Barka concurred with the Federal High Court’s finding that the appellants “failed to establish their claim” that Ighodalo forged his voter’s card.
Justice Barka further observed that the suit lacked merit, based on the flawed assumption that “non-possession of a voter’s card constitutes a ground to disqualify a candidate from contesting an election.”
He highlighted that the appellants did not contest the trial court’s findings that Ighodalo had applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the transfer of his registration from Lagos State to Edo State, and that INEC had issued a voter’s card to Ighodalo.
Consequently, Justice Barka struck out the appeal for being without merit and awarded costs of N3 million against the appellants and in favor of Ighodalo, PDP, and INEC.
Justices Usman Musale and Okon Abang, who were also on the panel, concurred with the lead judgment. This ruling clears the path for Ighodalo to contest in the upcoming election, solidifying his position as the PDP candidate.
