By Publisher
PDP in trouble as court voids Edo gubernatorial Primaries Poll
Trouble has hit the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, following Thursday’s voiding of its primaries for the forthcoming governorship election in the state slated for September 21, 2024.
A Federal High Court presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo in Abuja voided the February 22 primary election, which produced Asue Ighodalo as the governorship candidate for the forthcoming gubernatorial poll in Edo State, for failing to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the party’s constitution.
Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo had in his judgment invalidated the February 22 PDP primary election on the ground that 378 delegates who were supposed to vote in the election were unlawfully excluded.
Ekwo held that from the exhibit tendered in court, the returning officers, who prepared the result sheets only sat in one place to falsify the outcome of the poll, pointing out that the exclusion of the 381 delegates, including the plaintiffs, was against the provisions of the law.
He also held that even though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) filed a memorandum of appearance in the suit, it was unfortunate that the Commission only said it would abide by whatever the ruling of the court but did not file any process in the case.
Therefore, Justice Ekwo ruled: “I found that the case of the plaintiffs succeeds on merit”.
Three aggrieved ad-hoc delegates had filed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/165/2024 on behalf of the 378 other delegates.
The plaintiffs are Kelvin Mohammed, Gabriel Okoduwa and Ederaho Osagie, on behalf of the 378 others in 12 LGAs and 127 wards.
INEC, the PDP, its National Secretary and the Vice Chairman of the South-South, were joined as 1st to 4th defendants in the suit.
The 381 delegates are those loyal to Philip Shaibu, the impeached deputy governor of the state.
The PDP, on February 4, conducted a congress to select delegates, who would participate in the party’s gubernatorial primaries.
Trouble started even before the congress, as Seyi Makinde, Governor of Oyo State, who was appointed as the Chairman of the Election Committee, rejected the appointment, on the ground that the list of electoral officers for the election contained names from Delta State and those of officials of the Edo State Government.
Nine of the 11 PDP governorship aspirants, including Shaibu, former Deputy Governor of the State, boycotted the exercise, rejecting the composition of the Committee for the delegates’ election.
Tony Aziegbemi, Chairman of the PDP in Edo State, asked aggrieved governorship hopefuls to approach the appeal panel.
Ighodalo, a businessman, and the preferred candidate of the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, was declared the winner of the governorship primaries.
The Edo State chapter of the PDP has since expelled Shaibu from the party.
Reacting to the court ruling, Phillip Shaibu, the immediate past deputy governor of the State said he had been vindicated, adding that what PDP tagged as a primary election on February 22, 2024, was nothing but a tea party with no force of law.
He said he had consistently and persistently protested the disregard for internal democracy in the party.
He insisted that those who voted for him at his parallel primary election were the authentic delegates lawfully chosen by the people to nominate the governorship candidate for PDP.
Shaibu also said there was nothing wrong if he defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, as being speculated as long as for him to defect to the party, as democracy remained a game for the vast majority of people.
“When you see a political party wooing people to its group, that party wants to win but when you see a party chasing people away as in the case of the PDP, that party is planning nothing but rigging of election,” he said.
