2023 Elections: Will Chimaroke Nnamani Lose His Senatorial Ticket after PDP’s Expulsion?

• After weeks of suspending Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, the Peoples Democratic Party Party (PDP) has expelled the Enugu East senator
• The question that arises is: will the suspension/expulsion affect Senator Nnamani's ticket as the PDP candidate in Enugu East in the 25 February National Assembly election?
• Festus Ogun, a constitutional lawyer and the managing counsel of FOLEGAL, spoke on the legal consequences in line with the Electoral Act 2022

A couple of weeks ago, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suspended Chimaroke Nnamani, the senator representing Enugu East on the main opposition party's ticket.

Nnamani who is also the candidate of the party in Enugu East in the 25 February National Assembly election was accused of engaging in anti-party activities.

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Reacting, Nnamani said his suspension would collapse. According to him, he was not given the opportunity to defend himself in line with the constitution of the party.

While still contesting the legality of his suspension, the PDP added to the woes on Friday, February 10, when it announced Nnamani's expulsion.

He was expelled alongside some other party chieftains for anti-party activities.

While PDP did not state specifically the anti-party activity Nnamani is engaging in, Legit.ng notes that the Enugu East senator has been campaigning for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, against the flagbearer of his party, Atiku Abubakar.

Will Nnamani lose his senatorial ticket?

Meanwhile, in his previous reaction, Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Minister of State, Labour and Employment, said the PDP's suspension was a waste of time.

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He said Nnamani remain the PDP's senatorial candidate for Enugu East despite the suspension.

The minister said on Twitter:

"Waste of time; cutting your nose to spite your face. Suspension is of NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER at this time, because the law says he remains a CANDIDATE of the party. A party crumbling in the middle of campaigns! It is failure to respect its own constitution that is now hunting it!"

Political parties cannot withdraw candidates even after suspension or expulsion - Festus Ogun

Speaking on the development, Festus Ogun, a constitutional lawyer and the managing counsel of FOLEGAL, said expulsion or suspension of a candidate from his political party is not and cannot be a ground for his substitution and it does not invalidate his candidacy.

He added that substituting a candidate as a result of his expulsion or suspension by his sponsoring political party is not supported by any law.

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His words:

"...Will a candidate lose his nomination by the mere fact that his party has suspended or expelled him?...

"In my respectful view, Section 33 of the Electoral Act,2022 gives an answer to the above posers. It provides that “a political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidates whose name has been submitted under Section 29 of this Act, except in the case of death or withdrawal of candidate…”.

"Flowing from the foregoing, the only instance where a validly nominated candidate whose name has been submitted to INEC by a party can be changed or substituted is when the candidate dies or withdraws from the race in accordance with Section 31 of the electoral Act, 2022.

"Except for the two instances, a candidate’s name cannot be substituted under any circumstances whatsoever. This is applicable even where the candidate validly nominated is expelled or suspended before the general election."

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"This man go give PDP HBP," Nigerians react as Chimaroke Nnamani changes DP on Twitter

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Twitter was recently set agog by Nnamani who is also a former governor of Enugu state, Chimaroke Nnamani.

In a recent post, Nnamani informed tweeps of his new display picture, which kept Nigerians talking.

Shortly after his suspension by the PDP for his alleged involvement in anti-party activities, the lawmaker shared a campaign photo showing himself - a 2023 PDP candidate of Enugu East senatorial zone - and that of Bola Tinubu, the 2023 presidential candidate of the APC.

Source: Legit.ng