Delta North NASS: Appeal Court returns Nwaoboshi, sacks Nwoko

By Vivian Okejeme Abuja

The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has reinstated Senator Peter Nwaoboshi as the senator-elect for Delta North Senatorial District as it sacked Senator Ned Nwoko.
Nwaoboshi and Nwoko contested for the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP)senatorial primary election in which Senator Nwaoboshi won as the senatorial district candidate.
However, on April, 2019, Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, invalidated the election of Nwaoboshi Senator-elect and declared Nwoko as the winner of the election held on February 23.
Consequence to the lower court ruling, the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) withdrew the certificate issued to Nwaoboshi and presented it to Nwoko.
Irked by the judgement of the lower, court, Nwaoboshi headed to the appellate court to seek redress.
The Appellate court, in the lead judgement read by Justice Abdullahi Idris, yesterday, set aside the judgment of Federal High Court.
The court, in a unanimous decision, struck out Nwoko’s suit for being statute barred at the time the suit was filed at the Federal High Court.
According to the appellate court, the plaintiff ought to have instituted the matter at the lower court before the expiration of 14days starting from the day the result of the said election was declared.
“By the time the matter was instituted at the trial court, the action was statute barred having commenced outside the 14 days allowed by the law”.
“This appeal is allowed, consequently the order of the lower court is set aside and the suit is struck out” Justice Idris held.
Justice Idris also dismissed the preliminary objection filed by Nwoko.