By kawaekwune Jeffrey
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Edo State, Asue Ighodalo, has won a major legal hurdle ahead of the upcoming elections. On Friday, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja dismissed an appeal seeking to disqualify him from contesting the governorship elections.
It would be recalled that two PDP governorship aspirants, Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua, had filed an appeal challenging Ighodalo’s eligibility. The appellants sought to overturn the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had dismissed their initial suit on April 17 for being statute-barred.
The appellants had accused Ighodalo of forging his voter’s card, which they argued should disqualify him from contesting. However, a three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Hamma Barka, found that the suit lacked merit. The panel upheld the Federal High Court’s ruling, which confirmed that Ighodalo had lawfully transferred his voter registration from Lagos to Edo State.
Justice Barka emphasized that the appellants’ claims were not supported by sufficient evidence, and he dismissed the appeal, awarding a cost of N3 million against the appellants in favor of Ighodalo, the PDP, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
