High-stakes legal battle ends with surprising verdict by appeal court in Abuja

• The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal by PDP governorship aspirants Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua to disqualify Asue Ighodalo from the upcoming Edo State election
• The court upheld the previous ruling that the suit was "statute barred" and lacked merit, affirming that non-possession of a voter’s card is not a disqualifying factor
• Justice Hamma Barka awarded costs of N3 million against the appellants, clearing the path for Ighodalo to contest in the September 21 election

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.

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.”

Appeal court delivers landmark judgment ahead of crucial Governorship election. Photo source: X/GovObaseki/AsueIghdalo
Source: Twitter

PDP aspirants’ bold move fails again

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.

Appeal court gives verdict

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja dismissed an appeal that was filed by the reinstated Edo state deputy governor, Philip Shaibu to nullify the primary election that produced Asue Ighodalo as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The three-man panel of Justice gave the ruling on Monday, July 22.

Source: Legit.ng