The tribunal ruled that the Labour Party candidate was not duly elected.
The Labour Party has suffered another setback at the tribunal as the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Enugu has nullified the victory of its candidate, Professor Sunday Nnamchi, in the Enugu East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency election in Enugu State.
The petitioner, Prince Cornelius Nnaji of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had challenged the victory of Nnamchi because he was not duly sponsored and qualified to contest the February 25, 2023, election under the candidacy of the Labour Party.
Delivering judgment on Friday, September 8, 2023, the three-man panel of justices led by A. M. Abubakar declared Nnaji the duly elected candidate and returned him elected.
In its unanimous decision, the tribunal agreed with the petitioner, a one-term federal lawmaker, that the Labour Party candidate failed to meet the requirements to qualify as a candidate of his party in the election.
Recall that the Labour Party had earlier lost the Ojo Federal Constituency seat in Lagos State after a tribunal sitting in Lagos sacked the party’s candidate, Seyi Sowunmi, and declared Lanre Ogunyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected candidate.
Ogunyemi challenged the declaration of Sowunmi as the winner, noting that the respondent had failed to meet the requisite conditions to contest the elections.
Justice Abdullahi Ozegya-led three-man panel agreed with the petitioner and nullified the Labour Party candidate’s election.
