Labour Party suffer casualty as tribunal sacks reps member

The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Asaba, Delta State, has invalidated the election of Labour Party’s Ngozi Okolie as the representative for the Aniocha/Oshimili Constituency in the House of Representatives.

The tribunal ruled on Monday that Okolie had not been a member of the Labour Party by May 28, 2022, the date of the primary election, and thus, he was not properly sponsored by the party.

As a result, the tribunal declared the runner-up in the February 25, 2023 National Assembly election, Ndudi Elumelu from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the winner.

Elumelu, the immediate past Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, had submitted his petition to the tribunal, requesting Okolie’s disqualification.

Okolie had previously been declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).