Breaking: Chijioke Edeoga prevented from committing suicide as PDP wins in court

By Chuka Okwudili

The governorship candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in Enugu State, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, has been prevented from committing suicide after the news that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and all its candidates in the state won the case against them at the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu.

Sources close to the development disclosed that the Federal High Court presided over by Justice Folashade had declared, in a suit seeking for the disqualification of all the PDP candidates in the state for allegedly contravening the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, that the Plaintiff, one Mr. Chika Idoko, a senatorial candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in Enugu North Senatorial Zone, had no locus standi to institute the action against the PDP.

The plaintiff had earlier argued that the PDP and its candidates, having not met with the time frame provided by the Act, should be disqualified from participating in the forthcoming elections.

However, the defendants had raised preliminary objections on the ground that the plaintiff lacked locus standi to institute the matter since he was not a member of the PDP. It also argued that the matter was statute barred by the provisions of section 285(9) of the 1999 constitution.

While the court resolved the issues of jurisdiction and time limitation against the PDP being the defendants, it equally resolved the issue of locus standi against the plaintiff.

The court, which lampooned the plaintiff for wasting the time of the court with frivolous, vexatious and scandalous suit, further held that it was only a jobless busybody that would poke-nose into the internal affairs of another party. It, therefore, dismissed the matter for lack of merit and locus standi.

Meanwhile, a close ally to Mr. Edeoga revealed to our correspondent that drama started when Mr. Edeoga, who was said to be responsible for the sponsorship of Idoko as a means of going through the backdoor to ambush the PDP, attempted to take a substance suspected to be a poison when he heard that PDP fatally floored Idoko at the court.

According to another eyewitness who was with him when the news filtered in, Edeoga, on hearing that PDP had won in the court, lamented that he would do something funny against himself having spent millions of naira prosecuting the case.

Mr. Edeoga, our correspondent learnt, had rushed a bottle of snipper substance and while attempting to empty it into his mouth, was prevented by his aides who held him and collected the substance from him. He thereafter, collapsed at the spot.

As at the time of filing this report, Edeoga is said to be recovering from the shock from the news, and had been injected with high blood pressure drugs to calm him. He is presently recovering.

With the judgment of the court, the PDP can continue to contest and campaign as the authenticity of its candidates has been affirmed by the court.