Appeal Court reverses Elumelu’s victory at Tribunal in battle for House of Reps seat

A Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has overruled the judgment of the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba which declared Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as winner of the February 25 House of Representatives election for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency of Delta State.

The appellate court in two judgments on Thursday declared Labour Party’s Ngozi Okolie as the winner of the election.

It dismissed the grounds on which the tribunal voided Okolie’s election.

READ ALSO:Tribunal sacks LP’s Okolie, declares Elumelu as winner of Delta Reps seat

Also, it dismissed Elumelu’s petition before the trial tribunal, and on which the voided judgment was given.

The appellate court, however, agreed with the counsel to the LP, Mahmud Magaji (SAN), that contrary to the finding of the tribunal, Okolie was properly nominated, and sponsored by his party.

It noted that he resigned his appointment as a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Delta State Government as required by the Constitution before contesting for the seat.

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