The Court of Appeal in Abuja, Nigeria, upheld the candidacy of Asue Ighodalo as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the September 21 governorship election in Edo State.
This decision came in response to an appeal filed by reinstated Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, which the court found incompetent.
In a lead judgment by Justice A. M. Lamido, the court dismissed Shaibu’s appeal (CA/ABJ/CV/642/2024) and imposed a fine of N1 million against him in favor of Ighodalo. The appellate court also affirmed the May 27 judgment of Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which dismissed Shaibu’s suit challenging Ighodalo’s candidacy on the grounds that it was premature due to the lack of exhaustion of the PDP’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms.
Justice Lamido noted that the conduct and results of an election are presumed regular until proven otherwise, and Shaibu failed to provide evidence to support his claims. Consequently, the court resolved the issue in favor of the respondents and upheld the trial court’s judgment, including the N1 million cost awarded against Shaibu.
Last week, the Federal High Court in Abuja also dismissed another suit filed by Shaibu seeking to challenge Ighodalo’s candidacy.
