The court of appeal in Abuja has declared the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Ngozi Okolie, as the duly elected lawmaker of the Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency in Delta state.
The appeal court overruled the judgment of the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba where Okolie had been sacked.
In the judgment on Thursday, the appeal court affirmed Okolie as the winner of the House of Representatives election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that Okolie polled 53,879 votes to defeat his closest rival, Elumelu who had 33,456 votes. In July, the tribunal declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ndudi Elumelu, winner of the 2023 election for the Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency.
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In its judgment, the tribunal sacked Okolie on the grounds that the politician was not duly nominated by the Labour Party because, at the time of the primary elections he was not a member of the party.