The Court of Appeal in Abuja denied an appeal filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) seeking the disqualification of the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
In Nigeria, APM is attempting to disqualify Obi from the presidential election scheduled for February 25, 2023.
In the CA/ABJ/CV/1414/2022 appeal, the party argued that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should not have recognised Obi as a valid candidate for the presidential election.
According to APM, this was in light of the time Obi defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the LP.
The party contended that Obi’s defection for the purpose of contesting the presidential election violated sections 77(2) and (3) of the Electoral Act of 2022.
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They further claimed that prior to Obi’s defection to the LP, the party had already submitted the INEC a list of its registered members.
Obi lacked the right to be recognised as the LP presidential candidate, according to the appellant, because his name was not on the list of party members given to INEC.
APM also asked the court to overturn the Federal High Court decision that dismissed the litigation it filed to challenge Obi’s candidature.
The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices, ruled that APM’s appeal was without merit.
