Appeal Court Gives LP Candidate Back Lagos Rep Seat

The Appeal Court in Lagos Division has upheld Thaddeus Attah of the Labour Party as the duly elected House of Representatives member for Eti Osa Federal Constituency.

Thaddeus Attah’s victory was earlier invalidated by the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

However, on Thursday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal overturned the previous decision of the National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal.

In a unanimous decision, the appellate court ruled that the lower tribunal made an error in relying on the evidence of witnesses who were not party agents where elections were not held or were canceled. These witnesses only tendered Form EC 8, which they did not create before the court.

Furthermore, the court held that the tribunal must have the list of registered voters presented before it to conclude that the margin of votes where elections were not held or canceled can sway the votes cast.

The court also emphasized that the voters’ register was never placed before the lower tribunal and criticized the tribunal’s directive to conduct a supplementary election within 90 days in specific polling units.

Overall, the Appeal Court set aside the judgment of the lower tribunal, which had declared the elections inconclusive and ordered a supplementary election in 33 polling units.

Banky W and Ibrahim Obanikoro, candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress respectively, had both filed petitions to challenge the February 25, 2023, elections in which INEC had declared Attah as the winner with 24,075 votes.

Banky W’s petition argued that the respondent was not qualified to contest the election at the time and that the election was tainted by corrupt practices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.

Reacting to the judgment, Ibrahim Obanikoro congratulated Representative Jude Thaddeus Attah and called for support to ensure good representation for the next four years in Eti-Osa.