Labour Party House Of Rep Member Who Advised Peter Obi To Concede Defeat In March Now Goes To Court To Challenge His Sacking

Member representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi federal constituency of Abia State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Amobi Ogah says he’s going on appeal to challenge the court judgement sacking him on Wednesday as the winner of the 25 February national assembly election.

National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, NAEPT, sitting in Umuahia reached its verdict on Wednesday.

Ogah’s All Progressive Congress (APC) opponent, Hon Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, was declared by the tribunal as the duly elected person in the election.

Justice Adeyinka Aderibigbe, Chairman of the tribunal examining the petition brought by Onyejeocha agreed that APC polled 11,936 votes against Ogah’s LP of 9,728 votes.

Furthermore, Justice Adeyinka Aderibigbe said Mr Ogah stood disqualified even to contest the election since his party failed to comply with Section 77 of the electoral act to duly submit their membership register to INEC.

Little-known Amobi Ogah came to light after benefitting from a wave of political popularity of Peter Obi – the then presidential candidate of LP in the election, defeating a political colossus Hon Nkeiruka Onyejeocha who would have returned to the House for a record fifth term.

While his party and Peter Obi were challenging President Tinubu’s victory in the court on account of alleged gross electoral fraud, Amobi then cautioned his presidential candidate to accept defeat, saying, “Don’t think that if you don’t win today you cannot win again. Once somebody has won an election, to be a good sportsperson you must give that person the support”.

But in expecting Hon Amobi to honorably toe the line of his principle, he on Wednesday rather defiantly insisted on challenging the panel’s judgement on appeal.

 “Let me be clear that I am rejecting the tribunal’s ruling and will appeal the obvious miscarriage of justice, fairness, and objectivity“, he stated.

“My opponent, whom I know, did not win the election and the judge cannot announce a result presented by the petitioner as concrete against the result presented by INEC. With the benefit of hindsight, this bizarre outcome is not totally strange as we had seen tendencies of clear compromise by the panel who discarded all known principles governing election adjudication and enunciated their own principles. Indeed, a manifestation of it was writ large at the adoption of final addresses wherein the current Attorney General of the Federation- Lateef Fagbemi SAN made comments suggesting underhand dealings with the Chairman of the Panel.

“I want to use this medium to call on my constituents who voted for me, knowing my capacity to deliver dividends of democracy to them, to be calm law and abiding as I appeal the judgment delivered by the tribunal.

“For the records, I scored a total of 11,769 votes against my Opponent whom the commission said scored a total of 8,752 votes. It is very bizarre that despite calling a lone witness and dumping several strange result sheets before the Tribunal, the members of the panel cognized the same and disregarded original copies of the result sheets produced from proper custody.“

Mrs Onyejeocha has been appointed by President Tinubu as a junior minister to the Ministry of Labour and Productivity. If her victory at the tribunal is upheld on appeal, she will have a choice to relinquish either her legislative or ministerial positions.

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