Appeal Court overturns nullification of Edo PDP governorship primary

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned the judgment which nullified the People Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary in Edo State.

The primary produced a banker and lawyer, Asue Ighodalo, as the PDP flag bearer for Edo’s 21 September governorship election.

Channels Television reported that the appeal court set aside the judgment because the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit.

In a unanimous decision, a three-man panel of the court held that it could not interfere with how the PDP selects its candidate for next month’s governorship election.

A Federal High Court in Abuja last month nullified the 22 February PDP primary on the grounds that it failed to comply with the Electoral Act 2022 – the guidelines for the poll conduct and the constitution of the party, PREMIUM TIMES reported.

In the judgment, the trial court judge, Inyang Ekwo, held that the exhibit tendered by the PDP was bereft of evidence and ruled that the plaintiffs, through tendered exhibits, were able to establish their case against the defendants.

Justice Ekwo had said that based on the PDP exhibit, he found that the returning officer who prepared the result sheet sat down in a place to manufacture the outcome of the primary and therefore held that the exclusion of the 381 delegates was against the provision of the law.

“I found that the case of the plaintiffs succeeds on merit,” the judge had said in his 4 July judgment.

The suit was instituted by three aggrieved PDP ad-hoc delegates, on behalf of the 378 others.

This newspaper reported that the aggrieved ad-hoc delegates had sued INEC, the PDP, its national secretary and the vice chairperson, south-south, as 1st to 4th defendants respectively.