The Supreme Court has cleared the way for candidates produced by the Governor Godwin Obsaeki faction of the Edo state People’s Democratic Party to be recognized by INEC for the 2023 National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
This follows the dismissal of the appeal by the Dan Orbih faction, also known as the legacy group, which had conducted a parallel primary, with both factions competing for recognition by INEC to contest the 2023 election.
The Peoples Democratic Party in Edo state has been divided since Governor Godwin Obaseki, defected from the APC to the PDP to secure his second-term mandate
The contest has been about who controls the party between the Governor and a chieftain of the party Dan Orbih.
This rivalry led to two different groups claiming control of the state structures of the PDP in Edo state.
During the party primaries to elect the National Assembly and State House of Assembly candidates for the 2023 elections, parallel primaries were held across the state. The problem that followed was which of the primaries would be recognized by INEC.
On September 27, 2022, a High Court in Benin ordered INEC to recognize candidates only from the primaries conducted by the state chapter loyal to Governor Godwin Obaseki’s faction.
The court based its decision on the grounds that only the National Working Committee of a party can organize primaries, having noted that there was no evidence to show that the primaries held by the Dan ORBIH faction had the endorsement of the PDP National Working Committee. Dan Orbih is loyal to the G-5 group led by Governor Wike.
The Dan Orbih group later appealed the judgment, but the Court of Appeal in Benin struck out the appeal for want of jurisdiction due to the non-transmission of some of the records of the appeal.
A further appeal to the Supreme Court was decided on Wednesday in favor of the candidates who emerged from the Governor Obaseki state-controlled primary. As was the case at the court of appeal in Benin, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal by the candidates who emerged from the Legacy group led by Dan Orbih.
The beneficiaries of the judgment include Matthew Iduoyekemwen who emerged as the senatorial candidate for Edo South, Senator Clifford Ordia who emerged in Edo central, Kabiru Adjoto – House of Reps candidate for Akoko Edo; Omosode Igbinedion, candidate for Ovia Fed Constituency and 30 others.
Editor : Ena Agbanoma
