Edo Poll: Appeal Court Dismisses Suit Challenging Ighodalo’s Candidacy

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal seeking to disqualify Asue Ighodalo as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Edo State. A three-member panel, led by Justice Hamma Barka, delivered the ruling on Friday, dismissing the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/863/2024.

The appeal was filed by Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua, who sought to overturn an earlier ruling by the Federal High Court, which dismissed their suit as statute-barred. The appellants claimed Ighodalo had forged his voter’s card and should be disqualified.

However, Justice Barka upheld the lower court’s decision, ruling that the suit was filed too late and lacked merit. The court further noted that Ighodalo had properly transferred his voter registration from Lagos to Edo and had been issued a valid voter’s card by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court awarded a cost of N3 million against the appellants and in favor of Ighodalo, PDP, and INEC.