The Benin Division of the Court of Appeal yesterday declared that Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Gani Audu,(governorship and deputy governorship candidates of the All Progressive Congress,APC) were qualified to contest the Edo 2020 governorship election
The Court sets aside the Judgment of the Edo State High Court that early this year disqualified the candidates in the September 19, 2020 governorship election on the ground that Audu filled forged documents in INEC’s form EC9. The lower court presided over by Justice Courage Ogbebor ruled that by his ruling the APC did not have a candidate for the election. The APC, Ize-Iyamu and Audu filed separate appeals against the ruling. At its sitting yesterday, the judges in an unanimous decision said there was no evidence of credentials forgery on the part of Gani Audu and also held that the case filed in the lower
court by Kadiri Oshoakpemhe was statute barred, as it was filed outside the 14 Days constitutional provision. In an unanimous decision read by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye and was supported by Justices B.A. Georgewill and O.E.Oho, the appellant court said the case at the lower court was “grossly incompetent.” The appeal Court ruled that the suit at the lower court was filed out of time by two days which made it statue barred and that Oshoakpemhe could not prove the case of the forgery against Gani Audu beyond reasonable doubt by providing the original of the forged document to the court. She ruled that the first respondent in the case before the appeal Court is “trying to make mountain out of mole hill and his case is grossly incompetent. The judgement of the trial court delivered on January 6 which disqualified the appellant and Audu Ganiyu from contesting respectively as governor and deputy governor is set aside”.
