Breaking: Appeal Court reverses Elumelu’s victory, declares Okolie winner

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned the previous judgment issued on July 24 by the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba, which had declared Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency election in Delta State.

In a pair of rulings delivered on Thursday, the appellate court instead declared Ngozi Okolie of the Labour Party (LP) as the rightful winner of the election. It criticized the tribunal for invalidating Okolie’s victory and subsequently dismissed the petition that Elumelu had filed before the trial tribunal, which had led to the earlier voided judgment.

The Court of Appeal concurred with the argument put forth by Mahmud Magaji (SAN), the lawyer representing the Labour Party, affirming that, contrary to the tribunal’s findings, Okolie had been properly nominated and sponsored by his party. Additionally, it was established that Okolie had adhered to the constitutional requirement by resigning from his position as a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Delta State Government.