The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign organization in Edo State gas called the federal high court’s decision to nullify their governorship primary a “strange development.”
On Thursday, Judge Inyang Ekwo invalidated the PDP primary election that produced Asue Ighodalo as their candidate for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Edo.
Judge Ekwo said the evidence showed that the returning officers falsified the poll results and excluded 381 delegates, including the plaintiffs, which was against the law.
Reacting in a swift statement, the Edo PDP campaign organization stated that the court’s claim and ruling did not challenge or invalidate the outcome of their primary election.
PDP said, “the claim in question and the judgment which arose therefrom did not in any shape or form invalidate or even challenge the outcome of the party primaries which produced the candidate of the PDP for the forthcoming elections”.
The campaign organization said the exclusion of the 381 delegates, including the plaintiffs, was against the provisions of the law. They noted that the party is confident that the court order will not “survive the test of appeal”.
PDP believes the court order will not hold up on appeal, stressing that similar legal cases have shown that the selection of delegates is an internal party matter and outside the court’s jurisdiction.
The organization argued that legal precedents on similar issues have shown that “ward congresses and the choice of delegates are purely internal affairs of political parties outside the jurisdiction of any court”.
“The net result therefore is that contrary to the stories making the rounds, spread by mischief makers, the PDP primaries held on February 22, 2024, were not set aside and neither was any order given affecting the outcome of the same,” the statement reads.
They urged PDP members and Edo State residents to stay calm and ignore misinformation, promising that the truth will come out when the full judgment is released.
“Members and supporters of the PDP as well as the good people of Edo State are enjoined to remain calm and ignore the antics of mischief makers as the falsity of their assertion will be made clear in the fullness of time and upon release of the actual judgment for public consumption,” the organisation added.
KanyiDaily recalls that Governor Godwin Obaseki dismissed any speculation of discord with his deputy, Hon Philip Shaibu, affirming his support for Shaibu’s gubernatorial ambition if he emerges as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate.