Obi, Obidients In Jubilation Mode As News Of Labour Party Victory At The Tribunal Emerge Ahead Of Much Anticipated Judgement

Obi, Obidients In Jubilation Mode As News Of Labour Party Victory At The Tribunal Emerge Ahead Of Much Anticipated Judgement

The National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal, sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, has upheld the election of Jesse Okey-Joe Onuakalusi from the Labour Party (LP) as the legitimate House of Representatives member for Constituency II, Oshodi-Isolo, Lagos.

In a unanimous decision, the tribunal dismissed the petition filed by Ganiyu Johnson of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The three-man panel, led by Justice Abass Abdullahi, stated that the petitioner lacked the legal standing to interfere in the political party’s primaries when he was neither a member nor an aspirant in those primaries. The other members of the panel are Justice Okon Okon and Justice Esther Alukwu.

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Ganiyu Johnson, who served as the representative for the constituency in the previous four years, lost his re-election bid to LP’s Onuakalusi, who garnered 29,386 votes in the election compared to Johnson’s 16,650 votes.

Unsatisfied with the election results, Johnson filed a petition against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), listed as the first respondent, and Onuakalusi and LP, listed as the second and third respondents.

Johnson’s petition was based on several grounds, including his claim that the LP failed to submit the name of the primary winner, Augustine Chiagozie Matthew, to INEC as its candidate. He also alleged that Onuakalusi’s name was not on the party’s membership register submitted to INEC, and his personal details in Form EC9 were not provided before the February 25, 2023 elections.

In its 100-page judgment on the petition, the tribunal ruled in favor of the second respondent, affirming that the challenge to the LP’s primary election that produced Augustine Chiagozie Matthew had already been resolved by the Federal High Court and the Supreme Court, and it could not be revisited before the tribunal.

Regarding the issue of the second respondent’s party membership, the tribunal declared it both a pre and post-election matter and emphasized that the secretary of the Okota ward 3 was in a better position to testify, as party membership matters are considered internal party affairs.

After the judgment, Habeeb Lawal, counsel for the petitioner, stated that his client has the right to appeal within 21 days and may choose to exercise that option. Okwy Ejezie, counsel for Onuakalusi, expressed satisfaction with the judgment, confirming LP’s victory in Lagos and anticipating more favorable outcomes in the future.