President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima submitted a copy of the Labour Party (LP) membership register for Anambra State as evidence to support their argument that Peter Obi is not a registered member of the party.
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In response to a petition filed by Obi and the LP, Tinubu and Shettima contended that Obi, who ran for the 2023 presidential election under the LP’s banner, was not qualified to do so since he was not a party member at that time.
During the defense proceedings at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), their lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), presented the LP membership register and a letter dated April 25, 2022, from the LP, which was addressed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
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These documents were submitted alongside other relevant materials. Obi and the LP’s lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), objected to the admission of these documents. However, the court overruled the objection and admitted them as Exhibits RA17 and RA18, respectively.
In the news reports available, Peter Obi resigned from his former party, PDP on May 24, 2022, joined LP on May 27, and clinched LP’s Presidential ticket in the LP Primary on May 30, 2022. PDP’s Presidential Primary was held on May 28. This means that Peter Obi who was still a member of PDP on May 23, 2022 and could not possibly have been included in LP’s membership register which should have been forwarded to INEC by April 30, 30 days before it’s Primaries on May 30. But, what does this mean? Does it mean that Peter Obi was not a member of LP for the purposes of the May 30 Primaries? In fact, if PDP had forwarded its own membership register 30 days before its May 28 Primaries, that is, on or before April 28, 2022, it’s more likely that Peter Obi’s name would have appeared in PDP’s register.
What is the reason for having to be included in a membership register which must be transmitted to INEC before a primary election? Is it to prevent non-party members from being sneaked in to vote in the primaries? Does non-inclusion in the membership register vitiate a person’s candidature? Can it be reasonably concluded that if Peter Obi was not included in the membership register of LP, it raises the question of who sponsored him (since his name may still have been in the PDP membership register) and whether he was lawfully sponsored by LP for the February 25 election? What is the fate of a person who joins a party after the membership register has been submitted to INEC? Does it mean that individual is not considered to be a member of the party, until such a time that the register may be updated, possibly after the primary elections have been held? Or in the alternative, even if Peter Obi had become a member of LP which he publicly joined on May 27, does his non-inclusion in the LP membership register affect his qualification as the LP Presidential candidate, in view of the mandatory provision of Section 77(3) of the EA? Notwithstanding the membership register, does a political party not reserve the right to confirm who its members are? Or is it of no significance whatsoever, if a person’s name is not included in the membership register before the party primaries, as long as they become a member before the primaries?
On the contrary, perhaps, it can also be argued that whether or not Peter Obi’s name was included in LP’s membership register 30 days before the Primaries is not an issue because: (1) Section 77(3) does not provide that if a candidate’s name is not included in a membership register, it means that such a candidate isn’t a member of the party and/or cannot participate in the party primaries; 2) that INEC monitored the Primaries in which Peter Obi emerged as the LP Presidential Candidate, and INEC was therefore, aware that he is a member of LP and was sponsored by LP; 3) that by virtue of Section 84(5) of the EA, LP forwarding Peter Obi’s name to INEC as its Presidential candidate is prima facie evidence that LP sponsored him; 4) that Section 131(c) provides that a candidate must be a party member, sponsored by that party, and it is not only by the membership register submitted to INEC that Peter Obi’s membership of LP could have been ascertained.
