Court voids ruling against Ighodalo, affirms him as Edo PDP Guber candidate

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has upheld the nomination of Asue Ighodalo as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the September 21 governorship election in Edo State.

This decision voids an earlier judgment by a Federal High Court that had questioned the conduct of the PDP’s governorship primary held on February 22, 2024.

The Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, had ruled on July 4, 2024,  that the PDP did not comply with the relevant provisions of its constitution and electoral guidelines during the primary.

However, in the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/763/24, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal found that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case.

The appellate court ruled that the issues raised were pre-primary matters, which are considered internal affairs of the PDP and should not have been subject to judicial intervention. The panel also determined that the plaintiffs, who sought to nullify the primary, lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to challenge the process since they were not aspirants in the election.

In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Musali JCA  the Court of Appeal reiterated that under Section 84(14) of the Electoral Act, only aspirants in a primary election have the legal standing to challenge its outcome.

The court emphasised that ad hoc delegates, who attempted to nullify the PDP primary, do not qualify as aspirants and therefore cannot legally challenge the process.