By Austin Ogwuda
Come Thursday the 24th of August 2023, the legal fireworks will begin in the 13-page appeal lodged in The Court of Appeal, Asaba Judicial Division Holden at Asaba.
Rt Hon Ngozi Okolie, representing Aniocha/Oshimili federal consistency is seeking to quash the judgment of the Lower court that nullified his election and declared Hon Ndudi Elumelu winner of the last National Assembly election in Delta State on the ground that he was not sponsored by the Labour Party.
The legal teams from both sides are heavyweights.Whilst Ndudi Elumelu’s legal team is led by Ken Mozia, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chike Onyemenam, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, is the lead counsel for Ngozi Okolie.
Sometimes, persons who are not ‘learned’ do not understand or have full grasp of cases before the Court of law because of the legal jargons involved, at times in Latin.
Lawyers refer to those not in the legal profession as not ‘learned’ in their legal parlance.
The Town Hall Media, hereby serves the reading public with the summary or call it the substance of the appeal lodged by Ngozi Okolie in the Court of Appeal, Asaba Judicial Division holden at Asaba.
The substance of the entire Appeal as adumbrated by his Lead counsel Chike Onyemenam, Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN contained in 13-pages:
*That out of the 22 Witnesses listed by Ndudi Elumelu as his Witnesses, 20 were abandoned; and the remaining two who testified did not lead any evidence at all about the Petition or to complain that Hon. Ngozi Okolie was not qualified to contest the Election.
*That the The Petitioners’ only two Witnesses simply tendered over 100 Documents they were ordered to produce and left without giving oral evidence to explain what the Documents were about, after which the Tribunal adjourned for Judgement and after studying the Documents in the privacy of their Chambers, came back in open Court to read out all the defects which they discovered from the Documents for which a single Witness for the Petitioners did not testify or lead evidence; contrary to subsisting Supreme Court Judgments that where a Petitioner fails to lead oral evidence, the Petition is deemed abandoned as the Tribunal cannot examine Documents alone; and held that Hon. Ngozi Okolie was not qualified to contest the Election, nullified his Election and declared Ndudi Elumelu the winner.
National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party LP, Obiora Ifoh had on the 25th of July 2023 issued a press statement condemning the Lower court judgment.
According to him “the National leadership of the Labour Party is shocked over judgment by the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba, Delta State, where it sacked Labour Party’s Ngozi Okolie who is representing Aniocha/Oshimili Constituency in the House of Representatives.
“The court ruled that Hon. Okolie was not a member of the Labour Party by the date of the primary election, and thus, he was not properly sponsored by the party.
“We note that the judgment is clearly inconsistent with the position of the law already settled even by superior courts including the Supreme Court.
“The issue of nomination of candidates as well as membership are internal affairs of the party beyond the jurisdiction of courts.
“It is only a political party that can determine who its members are and who their flag bearer for an election should be.
“The courts have in a plethora of cases held that the court has no jurisdiction to intervene in the internal affairs of a political party.
“In the case of ARDO & ANOR v. NYAKO & ORS (2013) LPELR-CA/YL/15/2012 (CONSOLIDATED), the court of appeal, per Per DENTON-WEST, J.C.A., held that;
“However it is a notorious principle of law that courts have no right whatsoever to descend into the internal affairs of political parties as to choose their candidates for them or decide the status of their membership.
“This position is more vividly expounded in the case of AGI v. PDP & ORS (2016) LPELR-SC.256/2016, where the Supreme Court held that; “… a party is supreme over its own affairs……A party is like a club. A voluntary association. It has its rules, regulations, guidelines, and Constitution.
“Part of the rules and guidelines of the Labour Party”, he went on, “is to accord membership to any Nigerian whoso desire, and including by way of a waiver.
“If you look at our guidelines, it is very clear, that we can grant a waiver to people who are joining us during the election, and Labour Party in observance of its own relevant rules and guidelines discharged its obligations by granting a waiver to Hon. Ngozi Okolie.
“So, It is our inalienable right under our own rules and we activated it to the fullest. The electoral law also gave us the power to field candidates and further gave us the power to equally substitute candidates.
“The decision of the tribunal is against clearly established jurisprudence. Where the leadership (NWC/NEC) of a party regards a person as a member of the party eligible to contest the primaries, no member of the party can complain against such a decision.
“Such an issue is within the the domestic and internal affairs of the party over which the courts have no jurisdiction as such is not justiciable.”
“An action based on determination of membership of a political party is not justiciable.
“Therefore the judgement by the tribunal is not acceptable to us and it is also not the final.
“The petitioner obtained a mere phyrric victory that will fall flat on appeal”, the statement added.
