On Friday, September 6th, the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed an appeal filed by Arthur Osene and Anslem Ojezua against PDP governorship candidate Dr. Asue Ighodalo and four others.
In the judgment for case suit no CA/ABJ/CV/863/2024, Justice Barka of the Court of Appeal affirmed that the lower court was correct in ruling that the action was statute-barred.
The court clarified that when a case is statute-barred, it lacks the jurisdiction to hear it.
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“Once the constitution provides a time for doing a thing that thing must be done within the time provided. The issue is a pre election matter under s.285(9) of constitution
The supreme court has held that the cause of action in a pre election matter arises on the day the infraction was made. A calculation here renders the action above the prescribed 14 days.” The Court Stated
Additionally, the Appellate Court dismissed the allegations of PVC forgery as unfounded and lacking merit, noting that no evidence was presented to support the claims.
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“The burden of proving forgery is proof beyond reasonable doubt and there is no evidential basis to prove forgery in this case. The lower court finding that forgery has not been proved has not been disputed. The lower court is right that a voters card is not a requirement for qualification to contest the office of Governor” Justice Barka stated
The Court unanimously resolved all issues against the Appellants and upheld Dr. Asue Ighodalo as the officially nominated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State for the upcoming September 21st gubernatorial election.
Furthermore, the court dismissed the Appellants’ case as lacking merit and awarded costs of ₦3 million against them.
With these legal obstacles cleared, Asue Ighodalo is now set to proceed as the PDP’s flag bearer in the forthcoming election.
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