Coast Clear for Obaseki As PDP Candidate Agrees to Out of Court Settlement

The coast may soon be clear for Edo Governor, Godwin Obaseki, to participate in tomorrow’s governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State.

Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, who is one of the candidates who filed the suit that barred Obaseki from tomorrow’s exercise, asked the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt to have the matter stood down to enable an out of court settlement.

Ogbeide-Ihama, in his suit in the court, had asked the court to prevent any member of the party that has purchased forms but not screened within the time stipulated to contest the PDP primary.

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A request for an accelerated hearing was then granted yesterday before the hearing on the application today, Ogbeide-Ihama’s counsel requested that the court stood down the case for some time, and the presiding judge, Justice Emmanuel Obile, granted the prayers after the counsel to all the defendants aligned with the request.

Governor Obaseki was given a waiver by the PDP to join the race after resigning from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a related development, a High Court in the Ekpoma judicial division also today restrained the PDP from excluding  Obaseki, and the other cleared aspirants from participating in the Edo State governorship primary.

READ: Edo 2020: Obaseki in Trouble As Court Bars Him from PDP Primary Poll

The court ordered that the PDP and the electoral umpire should not exempt any of the aspirants who have been cleared by the party from participating in the gubernatorial primary slated for the 25th June 2020.