The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, presided over by Justice A. M. Lamido, has reaffirmed the nomination of Asue Ighodalo as the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State. In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Lamido in the suit marked CA/ABJ/CV/642/2024, the appellate court on Monday dismissed an appeal brought by former deputy governor, Philip Shaibu.
Shaibu had challenged the May 27th judgment of Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court, which declared Ighodalo as the rightful and duly nominated candidate of the PDP in Edo State. The appellate court upheld the trial court's ruling, determining that Shaibu did not meet the necessary conditions before instituting the action, rendering the suit premature.
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The appellate court also affirmed the trial court’s decision that Shaibu failed to prove his allegations of vote allocation against the respondent, noting that the conduct of the election and its results are presumed regular until proven otherwise. Shaibu’s affidavit provided no evidence to show votes were allocated to the 4th respondent, the court ruled.
Consequently, the court dismissed Shaibu’s case and awarded a cost of N1 million against him in favor of the respective respondents.
