In Abuja, the Court of Appeal has made a significant ruling, reinstating Ngozi Okolie, the Labour Party House of Representatives member, as the rightful representative for the Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency elections.
This pivotal decision, which occurred on a Thursday, overturns the earlier verdict of the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal. The tribunal had previously declared Ndudi Elumelu of the People’s Democratic Party as the victor in the election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared that Okolie garnered 53,879 votes to defeat his closest rival and then incumbent representative, Hon Ndudi Elumelu, who polled 33,456 votes.
But the tribunal sacked Okolie on the grounds that the politician was not duly nominated by the Labour Party.
However, in its decision on Thursday, the appeal court overruled the tribunal.
It held that the LP candidate was validly nominated and sponsored contrary to the findings of the lower court.
