Justice Inyang Ekwo of the federal high court in Abuja has nullified the election of Asue Ighodalo as the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP candidate for the Edo state governorship election slated for September this year.
The ruling followed a suit filed by some aggrieved PDP delegates challenging the election of Ighodalo, an ally of the governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki.
The three aggrieved delegates loyal to Philip Shaibu, a former Deputy Governor of the state had filed the suit challenging the emergence of Ighodalo, citing irregularities.
For instance, the delegates had claimed that the list of the delegates upon which the primary election was conducted at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium was manufactured by the governor and his team.
Ruling on the suit on Thursday, Justice Ekwo held that both the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the PDP Guidelines were violated in the conduct of the primary election.
“I found that the case of the plaintiffs succeeds on merit,” the judge ruled today.
Providing details of his judgment, Justice Ekwo said that Exhibit PDP 1 tendered by the party was bereft of evidence, that the plaintiffs, through the exhibits tendered, were able to establish their case against the defendants.
The judge said that from the exhibit presented by the PDP, he found that the returning officers who prepared the result sheets only sat down in a place to manufacture the outcome of the poll.
He said the exclusion of the 381 delegates, including the plaintiffs, was against the provisions of the law.
Justice Ekwo held that, though the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the 1st defendant, filed a memorandum of appearance in the suit, it was unfortunate that the commission did not file any process in the case.
According to the judge, the 1st defendant’s counsel only said it would be bound by the decision of the court.
The three aggrieved ad-hoc delegates, on behalf of the 378 others, had sued INEC, the PDP, its national secretary, and the vice chairman, South-South as 1st to 4th defendants respectively.
In the suit, the plaintiffs sought two orders.
These include an order for the defendants or their agents not to act but to show cause why the reliefs of the plaintiffs in their originating summons should not be granted concerning the plan of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th defendants to exclude them and 378 other delegates, whose names and election results are contained in “Exhibits BID 8A to 8L,” from participating in the primaries of Feb. 22 in Edo.
The plaintiffs, which include Kelvin Mohammed, Gabriel Okoduwa, and Mr Ederaho Osagie, on behalf of others in 12 local government areas and 127 wards, averred that it would be in the interest of justice for their reliefs to be granted.
Meanwhile, those watching the politics of the state insist that though the ruling is a win for Shaibu, yet they posit that the end has not been seen of this case, considering that the PDP candidate and governor Obaseki still have the opportunity to challenge the ruling in the appellate courts.
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