In a significant legal development, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has once again faced a setback in its efforts to disqualify the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, from the upcoming Edo State Governorship election.
Naijaonpoint reports that the APC had filed a case at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the removal of Ighodalo from the gubernatorial race.
However, on Friday, Justice Peter Lifu dismissed the suit, agreeing with Chief Akinlolu Kehinde, the counsel representing Ighodalo, who argued that the case was without merit and lacked any substantial basis.
Justice Lifu, in his ruling, declined APC’s request to rely on an earlier judgment from the same court that had questioned the validity of the primary election which brought Ighodalo to the fore.
The APC had sought to use this judgment as a basis to disqualify him. However, the court found this approach unwarranted.
The earlier judgment, delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo on July 4, had criticised the exclusion of 378 delegates from PDP’s February 22 primary election.
While this ruling did not explicitly invalidate the primary, the APC seized the opportunity to challenge Ighodalo’s candidacy.
However, in this fresh suit (THC/ABJ/CS/165/2024), Justice Lifu ruled that the Federal High Court could not act as an appellate court to review its own previous decisions.
He further stated that the APC had no standing to interfere in the internal affairs of the PDP, deeming their actions as meddlesome.
Moreover, Justice Lifu supported the argument put forth by Kehinde SAN that the earlier judgment being used to press for Ighodalo’s disqualification had already been overturned by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
With the case dismissed due to a lack of merit, the PDP candidate, Ighodalo, remains in the race. The APC had brought the case against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Asue Ighodalo, and the PDP as the first to third defendants.