National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba, Delta State, has nullified the election of the member representing Aniocha/Oshimili Constituency at the House of Representatives, Mr. Ngozi Okolie.
Okolie of the Labour Party (LP) was declared winner of the February 25 House of Representatives election in the federal constituency by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
But immediate past Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ndidi Elumelu, filed a petition before the tribunal, praying it to disqualify Okolie.
Elumelu, in the petition (EPT/DL/HR/06/2023), argued that Okolie was not properly sponsored by LP and that he did not resign his position as a public office holder.
The three-member tribunal headed by Justice A.Z. Mussa, in its ruling, disqualified Okolie and declared the runner-up in the election, Elumelu, as winner.
The tribunal held that Okolie was not duly sponsored by LP and that he was not a member of the party as of May 28, 2022, when the primary was purportedly held. It also resolved in favour of the petitioner that the second respondent (Okolie) did not resign from public office to contest the election.
Speaking with newsmen after the ruling, counsel for the petitioner, Andrew Osemenem, said: “The petitioner founded his petition on one ground, and that is the ground of qualification. We said through witnesses and documents that the LP candidate was not a member of the party as of May 28, 2022 when they purportedly held primaries for the National Assembly election.
“We also proved, and the tribunal agreed with us, that there were no primaries, there was no sponsorship, and the Labour Party did not conduct any primary into the National Assembly.”
