The eligibility of the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi is being questioned by some watchers of events, who revealed that the former Anambra State governor became a candidate of the party few days after becoming a member of the party contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act.
According to them, Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2022 states that each party is required to maintain a membership register in hard and soft copies and to make such register available to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not later than 30 days before the date fixed for primaries, congresses, and conventions.
Recall that on April 30, 2022, the INEC demanded all political parties to submit registers of its members.
The Labour Party however, held its presidential primaries on May 31, 2022, while Peter Obi joined the party on 27 May 2022, four days to the primaries.
“It follows that as of May 31, 2022 when Peter Obi purportedly won the ticket of the Labour Party, his name was not on the register of the party, which had been submitted to INEC in compliance with the requirement of Section 77 of the Electoral Act, 2022.”
“One of the constitutional requirements to become President is that the candidate must belong to a political party.”
“Peter Obi is therefore not eligible to be a presidential candidate of the party because at the time he contested and won the ticket he was not a member of a political party,” said a source, who urged the INEC to “look into the matter and do the needful.”