Appeal Court Dismisses APM’s Suit Challenging Peter Obi’s Qualification

The court of appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed an appeal seeking to disqualify Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, from participating in the election.

A three-member panel of justices led by Monica Dongbam-Mensem, in a ruling on Wednesday, held that the appeal by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) marked CA/ABJ/CV/1414/2022 lacked merit.

The APM had lodged its appeal contending that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ought not to have recognised Obi as the LP presidential candidate considering the time he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, and joined the Labour Party.

They contended that the period between when Obi left the PDP and defected to the LP for the purpose of contesting the presidential election, was in violation of section 77(2) and (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.

They further argued that prior to Obi’s defection, the LP already sent a list of its registered members to the INEC.

Consequently, APM urged the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the federal high court in Abuja, which dismissed the suit the party filed to challenge Obi’s candidacy.

Dismissing the suit, the appellate court held that sections 29 (5), 84(14) and 142 of the Electoral Act, as well as section 285(14) of the constitution clearly defines a person that can lodge a pre-election case to disqualify a candidate.

The appellate court noted that under section 157 of the Electoral Act, only an aspirant can challenge the nomination of a candidate.

Consequently, the court held that the APM did not qualify as an aspirant of the Labour Party.

The court of appeal also held that INEC “has done no more than comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act” by publishing Obi’s name as presented by LP.

The appellate court struck out the suit and all the reliefs the party sought before the trial court.

It further awarded a cost of N200,000 each to both Obi and the LP.