The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) seeking to disqualify the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi from the presidential election held on February 25, 2023.
News About Nigeria gathered that APM had approached the court, arguing that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should not have recognized Obi as a valid candidate for the presidential poll due to his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the LP, which they claimed was in violation of sections 77(2) and (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The party also claimed that Obi’s name was not on the list of the LP members submitted to INEC and, therefore, lacked the right to be recognized as the LP presidential candidate.
However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, stating that there was no merit in APM’s arguments.
The dismissal of the appeal is a relief for Obi and the LP, as the party can now focus on other court cases.
In other news, Obi was detained by the United Kingdom’s immigration authorities during the Easter break over offences believed to have been committed by an imposter, the party’s Presidential Campaign Council said on Wednesday.
The statement added that he was later let go after Nigerians, who witnessed the incident, raised an uproar.
“Since Obi’s face was already an international frame, especially for Nigerians, Africans home, and in the Diaspora who are likely to be Obidients, the people quickly raised their voices wondering why he was being delayed“, a statement released by party’s Presidential Campaign Council read on Wednesday.
