On Tuesday, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja set September 19 as the date for hearing a case brought forth by the All Progressives Congress (APC) aimed at disqualifying Asue Ighodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Edo State.
The judge established this date for the hearing of various pending applications after legal representatives from both parties agreed to postpone proceedings, allowing PDP’s counsel, Oyetola Atoyebi (SAN), time to address the plaintiff’s amended originating summons.
The APC’s case, registered under the number FHC/ABJ/CS/1001/2024, seeks a mandatory injunction that would compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove Ighodalo’s name and that of his party from its online portal and ballot papers, citing alleged violations of the Electoral Act, 2022, among other claims.
In response, INEC has requested the court to dismiss the APC’s suit.
The commission, through a counter affidavit submitted by Hussaini Abdullahi from the Legal Services Department, confirmed that Ighodalo is indeed the nominated candidate for the upcoming election scheduled for September 21.
Additionally, on August 30, the APC filed a motion seeking the court’s permission to amend its originating summons.
Among the requests was a motion to strike Ighodalo’s name from the case.
The APC argued that the amendment aimed to eliminate irrelevant references and to clarify the suit’s objective, which is to evaluate INEC’s authority to disqualify a political party under Section 84(13) of the Electoral Act, 2022, in accordance with the plaintiff’s right of action as protected by Section 285(14)(c) of the amended 1999 Constitution.
However, Ken Mozia (SAN), representing Ighodalo, filed a preliminary objection seeking to dismiss the APC’s motion on notice.
In his argument, Mozia contended that the court lacked jurisdiction to consider the amendment request while a preliminary objection was pending. He further asserted that the APC’s proposed reliefs were barred by statute.
