The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reinstated Ngozi Okolie as the rightful winner of the February 25 election for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency in Delta State, representing the Labour Party (LP). This decision came after the court overturned the judgment of the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba, which had previously invalidated Okolie’s election victory.
Initially, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okolie as the winner of the Oshimili/Aniocha Federal Constituency election. However, the tribunal nullified this victory on July 24, citing unlawful and illegal nomination as the reason. ThisDay maintained.
In response, Okolie appealed the tribunal’s decision, arguing that it was not in accordance with the law. In its final judgment, the Court of Appeal criticized the tribunal for voiding Okolie’s election and dismissed the petition filed by Elumelu, the opposing candidate, on which the voided judgment was based. The court found that Okolie had been duly nominated and sponsored by the Labour Party, and his resignation as a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Delta State Government was in compliance with the law.
Okolie’s appeal, which was dated July 27, included 12 grounds of appeal based on facts and law. He requested the Court of Appeal to grant orders allowing his appeal against the tribunal’s judgment, setting aside that judgment, and entering judgment in his favor by dismissing Elumelu’s petition.
Okolie argued that the tribunal had shown bias in favor of Elumelu, disregarding established principles of procedural and substantive law in its decision. He also pointed out that of the 22 witnesses listed by Elumelu, 20 were abandoned, and the remaining two did not provide any oral evidence to support the claim that Okolie was not qualified to contest the election.
