ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-Ngozi Okolie, a member of the House of Representatives representing Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency of Delta State, of the Labour Party (LP), has claimed that his opponent in the last general election, Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), knew he lost the election but believed he could buy everything with money.
Okolie said that Ndudi who challenged his victory at the election tribunal was only trying to “fish” and to see who could “fish” with him.
The lawmaker alleged that the lower tribunal, which nullified his election, “fished” with Ndudi.
Okolie made the claim while featuring on Arise Television on Friday.
Recall that the court of appeal in Abuja on Thursday set aside the earlier judgment of the National and State House of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba, which nullified Okolie’s election and returned Elumelu as the authentic winner.
READ ALSO: Delta: Appeal Court Sacks Elumelu, Declares LP’s Okolie Winner
The Abuja court claimed that the LP candidate was not qualified to contest the poll.
However, Okolie claimed that Ndudi challenged his declaration because he depended so much on his wealth.
He said, “Everybody that understands law knows very well that the tribunal didn’t give justice in the judgement they gave, that’s why we decided to go on an appeal. And thankfully to God the appeal court saw it differently from the tribunal and restored the confidence most of us were losing in the judiciary.
“Everybody that hears the judgement given by the appeal court knows that something really went wrong in Asaba.
“The fact is that Ndudi is my friend, he knows very well that he didn’t win the election but he has this erroneous believe that money can buy everything.
“So, he depended so much on his wealth and unfortunately the judges proved that money can not buy everything.
“He knows he lost the election. He knows everything he brought to the tribunal – he was just trying to fish, to see who would fish with him. The lower tribunal fished with him but the wiser men said, “No, money can’t buy everything”.