The ruling issued on July 24 by the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba, which proclaimed 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 Abuja.
The appellate court ruled that Ngozi Okolie of the Labour Party (LP) had won the election in two decisions.
It criticized the panel for nullifying Okolie’s election and then dismissed the petition Elumelu had submitted to the trial tribunal, which is how the nullified verdict was rendered.
The Court agreed with counsel to the Labour Party, Mahmud Magaji, that contrary to the finding of the tribunal, Okolie was duly nominated and sponsored by his party and that he resigned his appointment as a Senior Special Assistant to Delta State Government as required by the Constitution.
