Mr. Ngozi Okolie, a Labour Party representative for the Aniocha-Oshimili Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has said he will appeal the tribunal’s decision nullifying his election.
At a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja, Okolie announced this.
The Independent National Electoral Commission’s conclusion that Okolie had won the election had been overturned by the tribunal in a ruling issued on Monday.
Okolie asserted that the judgment lacked legal support and declared his willingness to appeal it.
Okolie disputed the court’s finding that he violated the constitution by running for office during the election, pointing out that he resigned before the required 30 days before the election as stated in the constitution.
In Atiku v. Tinubu, APC, a recent court decision determined that concerns over candidacy were the internal business of political organizations.
“The Peoples Democratic Party government in Delta State, where I served, had stopped my salary before I contested the February 25th election, which followed my resignation,” he claimed.
Since the country’s return to democratic rule, Okolie has emphasized that the election that gave him the position was the most legitimate held in the state.
“God is my witness; a large number of people turned out to vote for me. I did not rig any elections. I’ll brag that I’m the only candidate in that constituency to have won legitimately,” Okolie said.
Okolie voiced his displeasure with the decision and warned that the day would soon come when Nigerians would turn to local shrines to seek justice since they no longer had faith in the legal system.
Okolie said he switched from the PDP to the Labour Party in order to find a way to help the residents of his constituency raise their standard of living.
I have many friends in the PDP; my goal in entering politics is to support my community, not to join the PDP. So I will seize whatever chance I get to give back to my community.
The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal’s decision to dismiss Ngozi Okolie, a member of the Labour Party based in Asaba, Delta State, has shocked the Labour Party in the meantime.
The party’s national publicity secretary, Mr. Obiora Ifoh, declared in an Abuja statement that the nomination of candidates and membership are internal party matters outside the legal system’s purview.
Ifoh continued by saying that only a political party could decide who its members were and who would be its candidate in an election.
Ifoh continued, “However, it is a well-known legal principle that courts have absolutely no right to meddle in the internal affairs of political parties in order to select their candidates for them” or determine the status of their membership.
Ndudi Elumelu of the PDP was named the victor of the 2023 House of Representatives election for the constituency by the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which was in session in Asaba, Delta State.
Since Okolie was not a party member as of May 28, 2022, the date of the party’s primary, the tribunal determined that Ndudi Elumelu of the PDP, who came in second place in the National Assembly on February 25, 2023, was the winner. #Labour Party
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