Edo 2024: Appeal Court re-affirms Ighodalo as PDP guber candidate

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has upheld the nomination of Asue Ighodalo as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice A. M. Lamido in the suit marked CA/ABJ/CV/642/2024, the Appeal Court on Monday, July 22, dismissed an appeal brought by former deputy governor, Philip Shaibu.

Shaibu had challenged the May 27th judgment of Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which declared Dr. Asue Ighodalo as the rightful and duly nominated candidate of the PDP in Edo state.

The Appellate Court held that the trial court was right and unassailable in its ruling, determining that Shaibu did not meet the condition precedent before instituting the action, rendering the suit premature.

The court also affirmed the trial court’s decision that Shaibu failed to prove his allegations of vote allocation against the Respondent, noting that election conduct and results are presumed regular until proven otherwise.

Shaibu’s affidavit provided no evidence to show votes were allocated to the 4th Respondent.

Consequently, the court dismissed Philip Shaibu’s case and awarded a cost of 1,000,000 Naira against him in favour of the respective Respondents.

Recall that a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had, the previous week, also affirmed Ighodalo as the governorship candidate of the PDP in the forthcoming September 21st gubernatorial election in Edo State

Source: The Nation