Appeal Court Confirms Asue Ighodalo as PDP’s Governorship Candidate for Edo State

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, led by Justice A. M. Lamido, has upheld the nomination of Asue Ighodalo as the governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Lamido on Monday, the appellate court dismissed an appeal filed by former Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu. The appeal was marked as CA/ABJ/CV/642/2024.

Shaibu had previously contested the May 27 ruling by Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court, which had affirmed Ighodalo as the PDP’s duly nominated candidate for the governorship position in Edo State.

The appellate court agreed with the trial court’s decision, finding that Shaibu had not met the necessary conditions to initiate the legal action, thus deeming the suit premature. The court also confirmed that Shaibu failed to substantiate his claims regarding vote allocation, noting that the election’s conduct and results are presumed to be regular unless proven otherwise.

Shaibu’s affidavit did not provide evidence of any vote allocation to the 4th respondent, as ruled by the appellate court.

As a result, the court dismissed Shaibu’s appeal and imposed a cost of N1 million against him, in favor of the respondents.