The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal by Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua, governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, seeking to disqualify Dr. Asue Ighodalo from contesting the September 21 governorship election.
Esene and Ojezua had, in the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/863/2024, prayed the Court of Appeal to set aside the April 17 judgment by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dismissed their suit for being statute barred.
Justice Omotosho had also held that not only did they fail to prove their claim that Ighodalo forged his voter’s card, non-possession of a voter’s card did not constitute a disqualifying factor under the Constitution and the Electoral Act to deny a candidate from contesting an election.
In the lead judgment of the Court of Appeal on Friday, Justice Hamma Barka affirmed the judgment by Justice Omotosho and held that the suit filed before the Federal High Court by Ojezua and four others was filed out of time and statute barred.
Justice Barka upheld the Federal High Court’s ruling, which determined that Ojezua and others failed to substantiate their claim of voter’s card forgery against Ighodalo, and that their lawsuit lacked merit.
The suit’s flaw stemmed from its incorrect assumption that a candidate’s lack of a voter’s card can disqualify them from contesting an election.
He found that the appellants failed to appeal the findings of the trial court that Ighodalo actually applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the transfer of his registration from Lagos State to Edo State and that INEC issued a voter’s card to Ighodalo.
Justice Barka dismissed the appeal for lack of merit and ordered the appellants to pay N3 million in costs to the respondents, comprising Ighodalo, PDP, and INEC.
The decision was unanimous, with Justice Usman Musale and Justice Okon Abang concurring with the lead judgment delivered by Justice Barka.
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