The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) seeking the disqualification of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi from the presidential election held on February 25, 2023.
The APM had approached the court, contending that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ought not to have recognized Obi as a valid candidate for the presidential poll.
The party argued that the period of Obi’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the LP for the purpose of contesting the presidential election was in violation of sections 77(2) and (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The APM also claimed that before Obi’s defection to the LP, the party had already sent a list of its registered members to INEC.
According to the appellant, Obi lacked the right to be recognized as the LP presidential candidate because his name was not on the list of the party members that was submitted to INEC.
However, the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the appeal, stating that there was no merit in the case filed by the APM.
The decision of the court has, therefore, upheld Obi’s candidacy as the LP presidential candidate in the just-concluded presidential election.
In other news, Obi was detained by the United Kingdom’s immigration authorities during the Easter break over offences believed to have been committed by an imposter, the party’s Presidential Campaign Council said on Wednesday.
The statement added that he was later let go after Nigerians, who witnessed the incident, raised an uproar.
“Since Obi’s face was already an international frame, especially for Nigerians, Africans home, and in the Diaspora who are likely to be Obidients, the people quickly raised their voices wondering why he was being delayed”, a statement released by party’s Presidential Campaign Council read on Wednesday.
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
