Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua of the Edo State Peoples Democratic Party appealed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, to disqualify Asue Ighodalo from the upcoming governorship election, the case was dismissed.
Under appeal number CA/ABJ/CV/863/2024, the appellants had requested that the Federal High Court, Abuja, reverse the decision made on April 17, 2024, by Justice James Omotosho, dismissing their lawsuit on the grounds that it was statute-barred. The trial court’s ruling was upheld by the appellate court in Justice Hamma Barka’s lead judgment. The Federal High Court lawsuit brought by Ojezua and four other parties was declared statute-barred by the court due to its late submission.
Ojezua and the other appellants were unable to provide evidence supporting their allegation that Ighodalo had falsified his voter’s card, and Justice Barka agreed with the lower court’s decision.
The court also determined that their argument was without substance since it was predicated on the incorrect premise that a candidate cannot be disqualified from running for office simply for not possessing a voter’s card.
The appellate court’s three-member panel further observed that the appellants did not challenge the trial court’s conclusion that Ighodalo had applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission to have his voter registration transferred from Lagos State to Edo State and that INEC had provided him with a voter’s card.
After finding that the appeal lacked substance, Justice Barka ordered the appellants to pay N3,000,000 in costs to INEC, the PDP, and Ighodalo.
On the panel, Justices Usman Musale and Okon Abang concurred with the lead decision.
