Edo guber: Shaibu loses as Appeal Court upholds Ighodalo’s PDP candidacy

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

Delivering a unanimous judgment in the case numbered CA/ABJ/CV/642/2024 on Monday, Justice Lamido dismissed an appeal brought by former deputy governor Philip Shaibu.

Recall that Shaibu had challenged the May 27th judgment of Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court, which declared Ighodalo as the rightful and duly nominated candidate of the PDP in Edo State.

The appellate court held that the trial court was right and unassailable in its ruling, determining that Shaibu did not meet the condition precedent before instituting the action, rendering the suit premature.

The appellate court also affirmed the trial court’s decision that Shaibu failed to prove his allegations of vote allocation against the respondent, noting that conduct of the election and its results are presumed regular until proven otherwise.

Shaibu’s affidavit provided no evidence to show votes were allocated to the 4th respondent, the appellate court ruled.

Consequently, the court dismissed Shaibu’s case and awarded a cost of N1 million against him in favour of the respective respondents.