THE National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, Asaba, Delta State, has declared former minority leader of the House of Representatives Ndudi Elumelu winner of the Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency seat.
The tribunal in a judgment delivered on Monday, July 24, nullified the election of Ngozi Okolie of the Labour Party (LP). Okolie had been inaugurated as the member representing constituency.
Elumelu, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was the runner-up in the February 25, National Assembly election in the constituency.
In a petition numbered EPT/DL/HR/06/2023, Elumelu had asked the tribunal to disqualify Okolie for not being properly sponsored by the Labour Party (LP). He added that Okolie did not resign his position as a public office holder before contesting the election.
In the judgment, the three-member tribunal panel headed by A.Z. Mussa nullified the declaration of Okolie as winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The tribunal held that the Labour Party did not duly sponsor Okolie and that he was not a member of the party as of May 28, 2022, when the primary was purportedly held.
Elumelu’s lawyer, Andrew Osemenem, in a chat with journalists, said the Labour Party did not conduct any primaries for the National Assembly election in the constituency.
“Sections 65 and 66 of the Constitution require that for a person to be qualified to contest election into the House of Representatives, he must belong to a political party and must be sponsored by that political party.
“In this instance, Okolie, the tribunal found that he was not duly sponsored by the Labour Party because there were no primaries.
“The second ground is, as we urged the tribunal, the tribunal also found in our favour, was that Okolie was in public office, he did not resign, he continued to collect salaries and emoluments in breach of the law. The tribunal agreed with us.
“So, for these two reasons his election was nullified, and in line with Section 135 of the Electoral Act, Elumelu who was the first runner up, has been declared and returned as winner of that election,” Osemenem added.
Okolie won the Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency election in Delta, defeating Elumelu and others.
Elumelu pooled 33,456 votes, while the LP candidate got 53,879 votes to emerge the winner, as announced by INEC Returning Officer, Kenneth Ibe, in Asaba, Delta State.
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