Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court Abuja has rejected a lawsuit brought by the impeached Deputy Governor of Edo State, Phillip Shuaibu, and others. They sought to invalidate Asue Ighodalo’s nomination as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the upcoming governorship election in Edo State.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho determined that the suit challenging Ighodalo’s qualification, based on allegations of voter’s card forgery, was time-barred. He explained that as a pre-election matter, the suit was filed beyond the 14-day window stipulated under Section 285(9) of the Constitution.
Furthermore, Justice Omotosho noted that while forgery or non-possession of a voter’s card could disqualify a candidate under Section 182 of the Constitution, the plaintiffs did not substantiate their claim that Ighodalo had forged his voter’s card.
Consequently, the judge dismissed the case on grounds of lacking merit.
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