The court of appeal sitting in Benin has set aside the judgment of an Edo state high court, which disqualified Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his deputy, Gani Audu, from contesting in the September 19, 2020 governorship election.
Ize-Iyamu and Audu contested the Edo election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had filed a suit against Audu, stating that he was not qualified to contest the election on the grounds that he submitted false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a judgment on January 6, Courage Ogbebor, Edo state high court judge, held that Audu presented false information to INEC in his Form EC9.
Advertisement
However, delivering judgment in the three separate appeals filed by Ize-Iyamu, Audu and the APC, a three-man panel of justices upturned the decision of the high court.
In a unanimous decision, the judges — O.F. Omoleye, B.A. Georgewill, and O.E. Oho — held that there was no evidence of forgery against Audu, and that the claims concerning the differences in spelling of name amounted to mere discrepancies, and are not enough to prove actus reus (an omission).
The appellate court also declared that the suit was statute-barred, having been filed outside the 14-day constitutional threshold.
Advertisement
Add a comment
