The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday, September 6th, dismissed an appeal filed by Arthur Osene and Anslem Ojezua against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, and four others.
In the judgment delivered for the Appeal case suit no CA/ABJ/CV/863/2024, Justice Barka JCA upheld the decision of the lower court, declaring the action statute-barred. The court ruled that when a case is statute-barred, the court has no jurisdiction to entertain it.
“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 the 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.
The appellate court also dismissed allegations of PVC forgery as baseless and lacking in merit, noting that there was no proof provided. “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 voter’s 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 reaffirmed Dr. Asue Ighodalo as the validly nominated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State ahead of the scheduled September 21st gubernatorial election.
Additionally, the court struck out the appellants’ case for lacking merit and awarded a cost of N3 million against the appellants.
With these legal hurdles cleared, Asue Ighodalo is now set to contest the upcoming September election as the PDP’s flag bearer.