Senator Stella Oduah On Friday in Abuja, described as “a
misinterpretation”, media reports which quoted a Supreme Court judgment to have
sacked her and other federal lawmakers from Anambra.
Reports in the media said that the apex court had ordered
the replacement of Oduah and other federal lawmakers from the state saying that
their nomination to contest in the 2015 election was wrong.
In a statement issued by Cynthia Ferdinand, Press
Secretary to the Senator, Oduah said that the report in the media was
misleading as the apex court did not order the withdrawal of her certificate of
return.
She said that the judgement of the Supreme Court said
that it was only the National Executive Council of a political party that had
the legal right to sponsor candidates in an election.
Oduah, therefore, stressed that she and all the other
lawmakers from Anambra state have not been sacked by the Supreme Court contrary
to media reports.
“It is pertinent to note that this is a mere
misinterpretation of the Supreme Court rulings and should be disregarded in
all entirety.
“The Supreme Court did not order the withdrawal of the
Certificates of Return issued by the Commission.“It did not hold that the faction of the PDP had the
right to sponsor candidates for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“It did not equally authorise the Commission to
substitute our clients with the individuals whose names were on the list
improperly allowed by the Commission,“Series of judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria
states that it is only the National Executive of the party that has the vires
to sponsor candidates,” she said.
Meanwhile, the solicitors to the nine lawmakers allegedly
sacked, have written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
not to also fall into the folly of misunderstanding the judgment.
The letter signed by the lawmakers urged the commission not
to allow itself to be misled by its legal department just as it was initially
misled to accepting the list presented by the state chapter of the party.
The lawmakers stressed that separate rulings of the
Supreme Court including that of Jan. 29, upheld that only the list submitted by
the National Executive Committee was valid.
“This correspondence is aimed at setting the record
straight so that your good self will not again be misled by your legal
department into unjustifiably occasioning an unnecessary confusion in the
process.
The letter also drew the attention of INEC to pages 4647
and 48 of the judgment of the Supreme Court to further butress the point that
the couurt did not sack their clients.
The solicitors stated further that the apex court did not
authorise the Commission to substitute the lawmakers’ names with the
individuals whose names were on the list improperly allowed by the Commission.
NAN reports that the media was awash with reports that
the Supreme Court had sacked the nine remaining lawmakers from Anambra state.
Wow! this story is very intriguing, i can't wait to know the end.
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