The Court of Appeal in Abuja has confirmed Asue Ighodalo’s candidacy as the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship flagbearer in Edo State, as stated in a ruling issued on Monday.
In a unanimous decision, Justice Musali JCA delivered a judgment in the case numbered CA/ABJ/CV/764/2024, stating that the delegates who attempted to invalidate the PDP primaries lacked the necessary standing, and therefore the lower court lacked jurisdiction to nullify the primaries.
The appeals court further clarified that, according to Section 84 (14) of the Electoral Act, only aspirants have the right to challenge a primary election. Delegates, being non-aspirants, lack the standing to sue, as the matter is an internal affair of the PDP.
The court stressed that delegates are not aspirants and, therefore, cannot challenge the primary election process.
“As delegates, they lack the necessary locus to contest the primary election,” the court ruled.
As a result, the appeals court upheld the PDP’s February 22 primaries in Edo State, which selected Ighodalo as the party’s governorship candidate for the upcoming September 21st election.
In February, the national working committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) issued a certificate of return to Asue Ighodalo, winner of the party’s governorship primary election in Edo State.
Umar Damagum, PDP acting national chairman, presented the certificate of return to Ighodalo on Tuesday at the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
He was declared the winner of the parallel election held on Thursday.
News About Nigeria reports that Ighodalo won the election backed by the NWC of the party, while Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor of Edo, was announced the winner of another primary organised by a faction of the PDP in the state.
