Appeal Court Reserves Judgment in Oduah, Igbinedion, and Other Election Petitions

The State and National Assembly Appeal Court, Lagos, has announced that it has reserved its judgment in two crucial appeals filed by prominent political figures, Mrs. Stella Oduah and Hon. Onosede Igbinedion, as well as their respective parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). These appeals challenge the electoral victory of Tony Nwoye of the Labour Party (LP) in the Anambra North Senatorial District election and Dennis Idahosa of the APC in the Ovia North & South West Federal Constituency of Edo State.

The three-member panel of justices made this decision after hearing arguments from all the counsel involved in the proceedings. This development comes after the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Awka, Anambra State, had previously dismissed Stella Oduah’s petition for being devoid of merit.

Stella Oduah and the PDP were dissatisfied with the outcome of the National Assembly Elections, in which Tony Nwoye secured victory with 94,779 votes, defeating Oduah who received 50,146 votes, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official results.

In a related case, a different panel of the court has also reserved judgment in the appeal presented by Hon. Onosede Igbinedion, who sought to regain her position as the representative of the Ovia Federal Constituency of Edo State.

Omosede Igbinedion, who previously held this position on the PDP platform during the 8th Assembly, lost to Dennis Idahosa of the APC in March 2019 and again in the February 2023 National Assembly Elections. Idahosa secured victory with 19,851 votes, while Igbinedion received 18,396 votes according to INEC records.

Unsatisfied with the results, Igbinedion had approached the tribunal to seek Idahosa’s disqualification, but the tribunal dismissed her petition for lack of merit.

In today’s court proceedings, lawyers representing both parties presented their arguments. Igbinedion’s counsel, Mahmud Magaji (SAN), urged the court to set aside the tribunal’s judgment and grant the appeal. They are seeking an order setting aside Dennis Idahosa’s return as the winner of the Ovia North & South West Federal Constituency election or alternatively, an order directing INEC to conduct supplementary elections in specific polling units and wards where elections did not take place or had their results canceled.

Conversely, Counsel to Dennis Idahosa, Bode Olanipekun (SAN), adopted his brief of arguments and requested the court to dismiss the appeal. The final judgment is eagerly awaited and is expected to have significant implications for the political landscape in both Anambra North and Edo State.