Edo: Shaibu suffers another setback as court dismisses suit seeking nullification of PDP’s candidate

By Peters Monday, Abuja

A Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed Phillip Shaibu’s suit against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for nullifying the February 22 governorship primary that produced Asue Ighodalo as its standard-bearer.

According to Justice James Omotosho, the Shaibu was impeached as Deputy Governor of Edo and lacked the legal right to challenge the primary outcome because he did not fully participate in the primary.

He further said that Shaibu was not present at the primary venue and failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism before heading to court.

The court stressed that as a PDP member, Shaibu was bound by the party’s rules to approach the appeal committee before filing a suit.

The judge held that there was sufficient evidence to show that Ighodalo won the primary.

Congress learnt that Ighodalo secured 577 votes and was declared the winner of the primary poll.

However, Shaibu won a parallel governorship primary at his residence with over 300 votes.