The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed an appeal by the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, seeking to disqualify Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, from the February 25 general election.
In the appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/1414/2022, the Movement had approached the court, contending that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, ought not to have recognized Peter Obi as a valid candidate for the presidential poll.
APM said this was in consideration of the time Obi defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the LP.
The party argued that the period of Obi’s defection for the purpose of contesting the presidential election was in violation of sections 77(2) and (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
They also argued that before Obi’s defection, the LP already sent a list of its registered members to the INEC.
According to the appellant, Obi lacked the right to be recognized as the LP flagbearer because his name was not on the list of the party members that was submitted to INEC.
APM further urged the court to set aside the Federal High Court judgment which dismissed the suit it filed to challenge Obi’s candidacy.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices, the appellate court said there was no merit in the appeal filed by APM.
It was learnt that this is one of the grounds the All Progressives Congress APC Candidate and President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented to the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in response against Peter Obi’s Petition.