Court dismisses suit seeking Ighodalo’s candidature invalidated

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, dismissed a suit by ‘impeached’ Deputy Governor of Edo, Phillip Shuaibu and others seeking to invalidate Asue Ighodalo’s nomination as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election in Edo.

The off-cycle elections are to be held on Sept. 21 in Edo.

Justice James Omotosho, in a judgment held that the suit, which challenged Ighodalo’s disqualification on the grounds of alleged forgery of a voter’s card, was statute-barred.

Justice Omotosho held that the suit, being a pre-election case, was filed outside the 14 days allowed under Section 285(9) of the Constitution.

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The judge also held that even though forgery or non-possession of a voter’s card was a disqualifying factor under Section 182 of the Constitution, the plaintiffs failed to prove that Ighodalo forged his voter’s card as alleged by the plaintiffs. (NAN)