JUST IN: APC’s Bid to Disqualify PDP’s Ighodalo in Edo Governorship Race Fails Again

In a fresh setback for the All Progressives Congress (APC), their latest attempt to disqualify the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, from the upcoming Edo State governorship election has been dismissed by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

On Friday, Justice Peter Lifu threw out the APC’s suit, which sought to bar Ighodalo from participating in the gubernatorial race. The APC had hinged its case on an earlier ruling by Justice Inyang Ekwo that questioned the legality of the PDP’s primary election.

Justice Ekwo, in a July 4 ruling, had criticized the PDP for excluding 378 delegates from the February 22 primary that produced Ighodalo as the party’s candidate. Although the judge did not outrightly invalidate the primary, the APC seized on this judgment to file a new suit, arguing that Ighodalo’s candidacy was unlawful.

However, Justice Lifu, in his ruling, upheld the argument made by Ighodalo’s counsel, Chief Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), that the case was both “frivolous and baseless.” The judge also agreed that the Federal High Court cannot overturn its own judgment, stressing that the APC was interfering in the internal matters of the PDP.

Additionally, Justice Lifu noted that the ruling the APC relied upon had already been set aside by the Court of Appeal, making the disqualification attempt even less credible. He described the APC’s actions as lacking in merit and substance and ultimately dismissed the suit.

The APC had filed the case against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ighodalo, and the PDP, but their disqualification bid has once again failed as the legal battle over Ighodalo’s candidacy appears to have reached another dead end.