Justice Ayo Salami, former President of the Court of Appeal, has argued that former Anambra State governor Peter Obi should not have been allowed to contest the 2023 presidential elections under the Labour Party (LP).
The retired jurist made the comments on Tuesday while briefing journalists at his residence in Ilorin, Kwara State.
Salami contended that by the time Obi left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary, the LP had already submitted its membership list to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Peter Obi of the Labour Party ought not to have been allowed to contest in the presidential election because, by the time he left the PDP primary, the Labour Party had submitted its list of members to INEC. The constitution does not allow for independent candidates. How did he become a candidate if he didn’t belong to the Labour Party?” Salami said.
He drew a parallel with the governor of Kano State, who recently defected to the APC. “His name was not in the NNPP register, yet they issued him a membership card. The register is supposed to be the authoritative source for membership. Even though the Tribunal and Court of Appeal ruled on it, the problem lies with competence,” he added.
Salami also criticized certain judges for delivering flawed judgments, attributing the errors to inadequate training rather than dishonesty or corruption.
“Some judges are not sufficiently trained or lack the proper background for their positions. Imagine appointing someone as a higher registrar or a judge without proper preparation. This may explain some of the flawed rulings we see,” he said.
He noted that even Supreme Court judgments can sometimes be surprising. “At times when you read the judgment of some of them, even at the Supreme Court level, you would be astounded and wonder what is happening,” he added.
