Posted by Hon. Amobi Ogah, the member of Congress for Abia State’s Isikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency, has been accused by the Labour Party, LP, of colluding with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to have him removed from office.
As previously reported by TWISCOLOADED, on September 29 the National Assembly poll Petitions Tribunal in Umuahia removed the legislator who had been declared the winner of the February 25 poll.
The Reps member, however, did not accept the tribunal’s decision and so filed an appeal with the Appellate Court.
However, due to drama at the case Court in Lagos State on Thursday, the hearing of the case was postponed.
The LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, wrote an open letter to INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu on Friday, alleging that the electoral umpire, who is also a respondent in the case, had abruptly decided to change its lawyer without providing any advance notice.
The letter explained that the party was against the unexpected shift, but that some members of the ruling APC and a subset of the LP were in favor of it.
Some of the letter reads, “Sir, what played out yesterday, October 19th, 2023, was unbelievable; hence, we call on you to nip the development in the bud to avoid a messy situation.”
In a letter of authorization, “INEC had retained Senior Counsel, J.O. Asoluka (SAN), to act as its lawyer.”
Nonetheless, at the outset of the hearing at the Appeal Court, another lawyer appeared with another letter of power to take over the case of the same INEC without first informing J.O Asoluka (SAN).
They also didn’t feel it was necessary to notify the plaintiff of the change in circumstances as the law mandated. As a result, when the issue was brought up, there was a disagreement between the two attorneys as to who was authorized to represent INEC in court.
Some expelled members of the Labour Party led by Lamidi Apapa were conspicuously present at the venue of the Appeal Court. Some APC leaders were also present, and they are known to socialize freely with Apapa comrades and make boasts about how they will buy justice no matter the cost.
They also made a thwarted effort to seize control of the Labour Party’s lawyers.
“Chairman sir, it has now dawned on us that the change of legal guard without properly notifying the interested parties was carefully orchestrated by the Commission in alliance with our opponents with the intention to stall proceedings at the Court of Appeal and frustrate our candidate’s appeal that was scheduled to be heard on Thursday.
Even though the conspirators’ goals were accomplished—the appeal was postponed so INEC could straighten out its internal affairs and decide which of the two lawyers was authorized to represent it in court—time is of the essence, and we are sounding the alarm now.
Therefore, we are utilizing this forum to request that you look into the disgraceful actions being taken by the Commission’s legal department and take appropriate disciplinary action against those responsible.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stated that its participation in this case is limited to defending the results of the election it oversaw, in which it pronounced Hon. Amobi Ogah to be the lawfully elected representative for the Isikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency.
The Commission must reject even the appearance of a middle ground. After the contentious general elections of 2023, Nigerians are still looking to it to restore the country’s reputation. The Commission’s integrity must not be allowed to be further compromised by a small number of compliant members.