Edo Guber: Appeal Court Slams Shaibu with ₦4m Fine As it Affirms Ighodalo’s Candidacy

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The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Monday affirmed the candidacy of Dr. Asue Ighodalo as the duly nominated candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.
In the ruling, the Court dismissed the case brought before it by the lower court, which reinstated the impeached deputy governor of the state, Philip Shaibu, and upheld the ruling of the Federal High Court, which affirmed Ighodalo as the validly nominated governorship candidate of the PDP. It awarded a ₦1,000,000 (One Million Naira) cost against Shaibu, in favour of each of the four respondents – Ighodalo, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and two others – amounting to ₦4, 000, 000.
The trial court had ruled that Shaibu did not satisfy the condition precedent (internal dispute resolution mechanism) before instituting the action. Validating the judgement of the trial court therefore, the appellate court dismissed the appeal as “premature”, and as such, “the position of the lower court is unassailable”.
The court said the Appellant failed to comply with provisions of Article 9 (g) (h) (i). NYAME V. INEC that condition precedent must be complied with before filing an action. It noted that failure to comply with the provision of Article 9 (g), (h) and (i) was not one that could just be glossed over as it goes to the issue of jurisdiction.
The Appeal Court further held that where the authenticity of a document relied on was challenged, oral evidence ought to be called to resolve the issue, adding that the conduct of an election as well as results were presumed regular until the contrary was proven.
According to the court, “No evidence from the affidavit of the Appellant to show votes were allocated to the 4th Respondent. The appellant failed to prove his case as held by the trial court. The issue is resolved against the Appellant and in favor of the Respondents. Judgment of trial court is hereby affirmed. Cost of ₦1,000,000 (One Million Naira) is awarded against the Appellant and in favor of the respective Respondents.”