Appeal Court affirms Thomas Ereyitomi as APC candidate for Warri House of Reps seat

Appeal Court affirms Thomas Ereyitomi as APC candidate for Warri House of Reps seat

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has unanimously affirmed Chief Thomas Ereyitomi as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Warri Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives in the 2027 general election.

The appellate court on Wednesday dismissed in its entirety the appeal filed by another APC chieftain, Ekpoto Ekpoto Emmanuel, challenging Ereyitomi’s nomination as the APC candidate for Warri Federal Constituency.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Donatus Okorowo, the Court of Appeal held that Emmanuel’s allegation that the House of Representatives member held dual party membership was not substantiated as required by law.

Justice Okorowo upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, delivered on August 6 by Justice Mohammed Umar, which held that the issue of party membership was an internal affair of a political party and, therefore, not justiciable.

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The Court of Appeal also held that the declaration by the Warri Ward Chairman of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) that Ereyitomi was never a member of the party was fatal to the appellant’s case.

Justice Okorowo noted that Ereyitomi had gone a step further by publishing a rebuttal of the dual party membership allegation in a national daily, adding that the appellant did not challenge the rebuttal throughout the proceedings.

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Similarly, Justice Okorowo held that, apart from failing to establish the allegation of dual party membership against the candidate, the appellant had not shown that Ereyitomi was nominated for elective office by two political parties, a requirement for invoking the legal consequences of dual party membership.

The appellate court held that the appellant did not allege that Ereyitomi had been nominated by two political parties for the 2027 general election but based his suit solely on the allegation of dual party membership.

The court therefore held that the appellant’s case failed because he did not present sufficient evidence to establish dual party membership or show that Ereyitomi’s name had been submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by two political parties.

The Court of Appeal consequently dismissed the appeal but did not award costs against the appellant.

It will be recalled that the Federal High Court in Abuja had also dismissed Emmanuel’s case on August 6.

In his judgment, Justice Mohammed Umar held that the case bordered on the internal affairs of political parties, over which the court lacked jurisdiction.

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