Kenneth Imasuagbon, a governorship aspirant for the Labour Party in Edo State, has taken his case to the Court of Appeal to contest the selection of Olumide Akpata as the LP candidate for the upcoming governorship election on September 21.
On July 15, the Federal High Court in Benin dismissed Imasuagbon’s lawsuit, where he requested Akpata’s disqualification.
Justice Babatunde Quadri stated that the court did not have jurisdiction to handle the case as Imasuagbon did not utilize the internal dispute resolution mechanisms within the Labour Party before resorting to legal action.
The judge deemed the lawsuit premature and consequently dismissed it.
Unsatisfied, Imasuagbon has now approached the Court of Appeal in Benin to challenge Justice Quadri’s ruling upholding Akpata’s candidacy.
Akpata, LP, and the Independent National Electoral Commission have been named as respondents in the appeal.
In his appeal notice, Imasuagbon argued that “The trial judge made a legal error and reached an unjust decision leading to a miscarriage of justice for the plaintiff/appellant by dismissing the plaintiff/appellant’s lawsuit based on the 1st defendant/respondent’s argument in their preliminary objection at the lower court.”
He also maintained that the judge wrongfully deemed the suit as time-barred, “without taking into account Section 285(13A) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (fifth alteration) act, (No. 10), 2023, which was brought to the lower court’s attention during the suit hearing.”
He stated, “A simple calculation of the 14-day period provided by law, from the submission date of INEC Form EC9 of the 1st and 2nd defendants/respondents (March 24, 2024), to April 12, 2024, when the plaintiff/appellant filed the suit, reveals a total of 18 days between the two dates.”
Therefore, Imasuagbon is requesting the appellate court to issue “an order overturning the lower court’s decision.”
He is asking the court to instruct INEC to “promptly issue a Certificate of Return to the plaintiff/appellant as the victor of the primary election held on Friday, February 23, 2024.”