Appeal Court sets aside tribunal judgment declaring Elumelu election winner

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, has set aside the judgment of the National and State House of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba, Delta State which declared Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency, Delta state.

The court in its ruling on Thursday, affirmed the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Ngozi Okolie, who was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election.

INEC has declared Okolie of LP winner of the election with a total vote of 53,879 to defeat Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party who pulled 33,456 while Tony Nwaake of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 11, 712 votes

However, the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba, Delta State, declared Ndudi Elumelu of the PDP as the winner of the 2023 House of Representatives election for the constituency, in July

But the court of appeal faulted the tribunal for voiding Okolie’s election.

The appellate court agreed with Mahmud Magaji, counsel to LP, that contrary to the findings of the tribunal, Okolie was duly nominated and sponsored by his party.

The appeal court also stated that Okolie resigned his appointment as a senior special assistant (SSA) in the Delta state government, as required by the constitution, before the election.