Edo Assembly Primary: Aspirant Takes APC Candidate and Others to Court

An aspirant for the Esan South Constituency seat in the Edo State House of Assembly, Barrister Victor Giwa, has approached a Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge the result of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the constituency.

In a suit dated 29 May 2026, numbered ABJ/FHC/C’S/1078/26, Giwa, a lawyer, asked the court to issue an order restraining Chief Sunday Oseizua Ojiezele, who was declared the winner of the primary, from presenting himself as the APC candidate for the 2027 election.

Through his lawyer, Mr Patrick Ocheja Okolo, SAN, Giwa said the primary election for Esan South Constituency was marred by irregularities.

Ojiezele, the APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were joined as first, second, and third respondents, respectively.

Giwa requested the following reliefs: “An order restraining the first respondent from presenting himself as the candidate of the second respondent for the Edo State House of Assembly seat in the 2027 general election in Edo State, pending the determination of the substantive suit.”

“An order restraining the third respondent from accepting, recognizing, or publishing the name of the first respondent as the second respondent’s candidate for the Edo State House of Assembly election in the 2027 general election of Edo State, pending the determination of the substantive suit.”

“An order directing all parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum as at 19 May 2026.”

Stating the grounds for the suit, the applicant said he participated in the primary held at the ward level and the LGA secretariat of Esan South East Constituency of Edo State.

He said the second respondent, APC, neither conducted a primary nor adopted a consensus candidate in the election on the said date but instead allocated figures to the first respondent, Ojiezele, and declared him the consensus candidate.

The applicant was allocated zero votes against his name, irrespective of the votes in his favour in wards 3, 4, 8, 9 and 10 of the Esan South East Local Government Constituency exercise of the second respondent.

The first respondent did not emerge from any primary conducted nor from any consensus arrangement of the second respondent,” he stated.