The State and National Assembly Appeal Court sitting in Lagos has reserved judgment in two appeals by Stella Oduah and her party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the victory of Labour Party’s (LP’s) Tony Nwoye in the February 25, 2023 Anambra North Senatorial District election.
The three-member panel of justices adjourned for judgment after taking arguments from counsel for the parties.
The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Awka, Anambra State, had in its September 6 judgment dismissed Mrs. Oduah’s and PDP’s petitions challenging Nwoye’s and LP’s victory.
Dissatisfied, the duo filed two appeals marked CA/AW/EP/SEN/AN/03/2023 and CA/AW/EP/SEN/AN/04/2023.
Nwoye had polled 94,779 votes to defeat Oduah, who scored 50,146 votes, according to the result of the election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The tribunal had in a unanimous decision dismissed Oduah’s petition and that of the PDP for lack of merit and affirmed Nwoye’s election.
Oduah, a former aviation minister, represented Anambra North at the ninth Senate for eight years. She was first elected in 2015 on PDP’s platform.
She was re-elected in 2019. In August 2021, Oduah defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the PDP.
The senator re-joined the PDP in April 2022, about eight months later, saying she had returned to where she was “highly regarded.”
