Peter Obi should not have contested 2023 election – Ex-Appeal Court President

Ayo Salami, former President of the Court of Appeal, has declared that Peter Obi should not have been allowed to contest the 2023 presidential election under the Labour Party (LP).

Salami spoke on Tuesday in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, during a courtesy visit by officials of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ). The delegation presented an award to the retired jurist at his residence.

Dapo Olorunyomi, founder and executive director of WSCIJ, and Motunrayo Alaka, the organisation’s chief executive officer, led the delegation.

Salami said Obi’s candidacy was inconsistent with constitutional provisions because the LP had already submitted its membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

His words: “For instance, Peter Obi ought not be allowed to contest the 2023 presidential election. In the sense that by the time he lost the PDP primary, LP had submitted its list of members to the Independent National Electoral Commission.”

“And the Constitution says there cannot be an independent candidacy. How did he become a candidate of LP if he does not belong to LP?”

Salami also cited the case of Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano state, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The same thing happened to the Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, who had now defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“His name is not in the NNDP’s register, but they issued him a membership card, and the register is supposed to be the mother of the card,” he said.

Salami attributed some controversial judicial decisions to what he described as inadequacies among some judges.

He said the quality of judicial decisions has declined due to factors including the expansion of law faculties across universities.

“At times, if you see the judgments of some of them, even the Supreme Court judgments, you will be astounded and wonder at what is happening,” he lamented.