The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned the verdict of the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba, dated July 24.
This decision had declared Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the victor of the recent election for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency of Delta State.
In two rulings delivered on Thursday, the appellate court declared Ngozi Okolie of the Labour Party (LP) as the rightful winner of the election.
It found fault with the tribunal for annulling Okolie’s victory and subsequently dismissed the petition filed by Elumelu before the trial tribunal, which led to the nullified judgment.
The Court of Appeal concurred with the argument put forth by the Labour Party’s legal representative, Mahmud Magaji (SAN), stating that, contrary to the tribunal’s determination, Okolie had been validly nominated and endorsed by his party. Furthermore, it was affirmed that he had fulfilled the constitutional requirement by resigning from his position as a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Delta State Government.
