The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba’s July 24 ruling declaring Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the victor of the most recent election for the Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency of Delta State has been overturned by the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja.
On September 13, the appellate court handed down a ruling regarding the petition that was brought before it, designating Ngozi Okolie of the Labour Party (LP) as the election’s victor.
It criticized the tribunal for nullifying Okolie’s election and then dismissed Elumelu’s petition before the trial tribunal, on which the nullified judgment was rendered.
Contrary to the tribunal’s finding, the Court of Appeal agreed with lawyer for the Labour Party Mahmud Magaji (SAN) that Okolie was properly nominated and sponsored by his party and that he resigned his appointment as a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Delta State Government in accordance with the Constitution.
