On Monday, a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a lawsuit filed by the impeached Deputy Governor of Edo State, Phillip Shaibu, seeking to overturn the February 22 Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) governorship primary, which produced Asue Ighodalo as its candidate.
In his judgement, Justice James Omotosho ruled that Shaibu lacked the locus standi (legal right) to challenge the primary results since he did not fully participate in the primary.
Justice Omotosho further ruled that the impeached deputy governor was not equally present at the primary location on the day it was held.
The judge concluded that Shaibu's lawsuit was premature since he failed to exhaust the party's internal conflict resolution mechanism before heading to court.
He claimed that as a member of the PDP, he was required by the party's rules and regulations, which mandate a dissatisfied primary candidate to first seek the party's appeals committee before initiating a lawsuit in court.
He also ruled that there was sufficient evidence to show that Ighodalo won the primary.
