The Labour Party has vowed to appeal the judgement of the National Assembly Election Tribunal sitting in Asaba, which nullified the election of the member representing Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ngozi Okolie.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared Okolie winner of the Aniocha-Oshimili Federal Constituency election during the Federal 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections.
But Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP dragged the lawmaker to court, claiming that the LP candidate was not qualified to contest for the poll.
During its judgement on Monday, the tribunal, according to Channels TV, held that Okolie was not duly sponsored by the Labour Party since he was not a member of the party as of May 28, 2022, when the party’s primary was held.
Reacting to the development, the party in a statement on Tuesday signed by it National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, described the Tribunal ruling as shocking and unexpected, because according to them, Okolie was validly nominated in accordance with its laid down rules and regulations.
They said that the action based on determination of membership of a political party is not justiciable, they are internal affairs.
The statement said “The court ruled that Hon. Okolie was not a member of the Labour Party by the date of the primary election, and thus, he was not properly sponsored by the party.
“We note that the judgment is clearly inconsistent with the position of the law already settled even by superior courts including the Supreme Court.
“The issue of nomination of candidates as well as membership are internal affairs of the party beyond the jurisdiction of courts. It is only a political party that can determine who its members are and who their flag bearer for an election should be.
“An action based on determination of membership of a political party is not justiciable. Therefore the judgement by the tribunal is not acceptable to us and it is also not the final.”
They further advised it supporters and obidient families across the country to keep calm as they work towards restoring their mandate.
“We have also noted the tension mounting in the camps of the Labour Party and Obidient families across the nation and beyond on the possible spill-over of the judgment in Delta state.
“We, therefore call on you to keep calm as we will ensure that none of our mandates is snatched away. Let me assure you that every case has its own circumstances and its own merit and all cases are treated on their merits and their special circumstances.”