PDP challenges nullification of Edo governorship primary in appeal court

• The PDP has appealed to the Court of Appeal in Abuja to challenge the Federal High Court's ruling that annulled their primaries
• The appeal, dated July 9, argues that the lower court's decision was unsupported by evidence and misinterprets the party's case
• The PDP contends that their candidate, Asue Ighodalo, was legitimately elected by ad-hoc delegates

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken its case to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, challenging the Federal High Court's decision that annulled the primaries which had selected Asue Ighodalo as their gubernatorial candidate for the upcoming 2024 governorship election in Edo State.

In an appeal based on 25 points, the PDP has requested the appellate court to overturn the judgment delivered by the lower court on July 4, 2024.

PDP appeals court verdict on Edo state guber primaries Photo credit: Asue Ighodalo
Source: Facebook

It is worth noting that Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had previously ruled that the PDP primary election conducted on February 22 in Edo State was invalid, as reported by The Punch.

Justice Ekwo found that the PDP failed to adhere to the relevant provisions of its constitution and the electoral guidelines for primary elections by excluding 378 elected ward delegates from the primary process.

The judge stated that this exclusion violated Article 50(3) of the party’s constitution.

He also emphasized that political parties are legally required to follow their constitutions, guidelines, and regulations.

PDP says court's verdict not supported by evidence

In an appeal dated July 9 and marked CA/ABJ/CV/2024, the PDP, represented by their lawyer Adeyemi Ajibade (SAN), argued that the trial court's decision was not supported by the evidence presented.

The respondents in the appeal are Kelvin Mohammed, Gabriel Okoduwa, Ederaho Osagie (representing themselves and the 378 ad-hoc delegates), the Independent National Electoral Commission, the National Secretary of the PDP, and the Vice Chairman of PDP South-South, listed as the 1st to 6th respondents respectively.

The PDP stated:

The party further argued that the trial court had no grounds for its decision.

The PDP explained that on February 4, it conducted a three-man ad-hoc ward congress across the 18 local governments in Edo State, and the 1st to 3rd respondents did not participate nor were they among the elected delegates.

The party maintained that its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, was duly elected by the ad-hoc delegates who participated in the primary election, Channels Television reported.

The PDP also argued that the lower court misunderstood their case and incorrectly evaluated the evidence.

Court nullifies Edo PDP guber primary election read

Meanwhile, earlier, the federal high court sitting in Abuja nullified the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary election in Edo state.

Legit.ng reported that the PDP governorship primary election which was held on Thursday, February 22, 2024, produced the former Chairman of Sterling Bank, Asue Ighodalo.

Source: Legit.ng