Court Of Appeal Affirms Election Of Senator Tony Nwoye
From Mokwugwo Solomon, Awka
The Court of Appeal in Lagos has dismissed the appeal filed by Stella Oduah, challenging the victory of Labour Party’s Tony Nwoye in the February 25, 2023 Anambra North Senatorial District election.
The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Awka, Anambra State, in its earlier judgment given on September 6, 2023, dismissed Oduah and the Peoples Democratic Party’s petitions challenging the victory of Nwoye and the Labour Party. The tribunal dismissed Oduah’s petitions for a lack of merit.
Not satisfied with the ruling of the tribunal, Oduah and the PDP filed appeals marked CA/AW/EP/SEN/AN/03/2023 and CA/AW/EP/SEN/AN/04/2023 at the Court of Appeal.
Result of the election showed that Nwoye secured 94,779 votes, while Oduah had 50,146 votes.
Oduah, a former Aviation Minister, represented Anambra North at the Senate for 8 years.
Stella Oduah approached the courts to challenge Nwoye’s nomination as candidate of the Labour Party, and his membership of the party.
However, the Court of Appeal resolved the issue of nomination against Oduah. It noted that the nomination of candidate is a domestic affair of a political party and not justiciable.
It also described the nomination as a pre-election matter, adding that Oduah had no locus to challenge the membership of the Labour Party.
It said only an aspirant in the primary election can challenge such issues