Justice. O. A. Adeniyi ,the presiding vacation judge of the FCT High Court has struck out the suit filed by Pastor Ize-iyamu against INEC and Hon. Iduoriyekemwen.
Pastor Ize-Iyamu was seeking the order of the Court to stop INEC from substituting his name as candidate of PDP in the Edo Governorship Election.
The judge, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, struck out the suit following a notice of discontinuance by Ize-Iyamu’s counsel. Adeniyi, in his ruling, also refused the application to award cost to the defendants, but struck out the case from the court’s list. He said “this suit is hereby struck out from the course list of this court.
“I shall not be awarding any cost in order to enable the plaintiff reconcile with the third defendant.’’ Ize-Iyamu’s Counsel, Mr Chidi Aninwoya, had informed the court that his client had filed a notice of discontinuance in the suit. Ibrahim Mohammed, Counsel to INEC and Edward Aibangbee, who represented Iduoeyekemwen, did not oppose the withdrawal of the suit.
While Aigbangbee requested the court to grant his client N100, 000 cost, Aninwoya urged the court not to grant the request to award cost. Ize-Iyamu had filed an originating summons challenging the alleged planned move by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to substitute him for another candidate at the forthcoming Sept. 10, Edo governorship election.
Ize-Iyamu participated in the Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee organised June 20, party governorship primaries in Edo and scored 584 votes to defeat two other aspirants, Mathew Idurioeyekemwen and Mr Solomon
Edebiri. In the originating summons, Ize-Iyamu argued that INEC, under sections 33 and 35 of the Electoral Act 2010 as (Amended), did not have the power or the right to substitute a candidate for a political party.
He, therefore, urged the court to restrain INEC from carrying out its alleged plans to substitute him as the party’s candidate for the Edo governorship election.