The Court of Appeal in Abuja has confirmed Dr. Asue Ighodalo as the legitimate candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the upcoming governorship election in Edo State, scheduled for September 21. The court dismissed a case brought by reinstated Edo Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, and upheld an earlier decision by the Federal High Court.
The three-judge panel, led by Justice A. M Lamido, concluded that Shaibu’s lawsuit was filed prematurely. The Federal High Court had previously ruled that Shaibu failed to follow the necessary internal dispute resolution processes within the party before approaching the court, thus rendering his suit inadmissible.
Reaffirming this decision, the Appeal Court stated, “The suit is premature” and agreed that the lower court’s position was “unassailable.” The judges emphasized that Shaibu did not meet the conditions set out in Article 9 (g), (h), and (i) of the PDP’s constitution, which must be adhered to before legal action can be initiated.
As a result, the court ordered Shaibu to pay a fine of N1,000,000 to Ighodalo, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and two other respondents. The panel also highlighted that the authenticity of election documents, if disputed, requires oral evidence for resolution. They noted that election results are presumed valid unless proven otherwise.
“No evidence from the affidavit of the appellant to show votes were allocated to the 4th respondent. The appellant failed to prove his case as held by the trial court,” the ruling stated. “Judgment of trial court is hereby affirmed. A cost of 1,000,000 is awarded against the appellant and in favour of the respective respondents.”
