THE Delta State Government, yesterday, insisted that the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, did not overturn the election of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, following its ruling on the appeal brought before it by the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Ken Pela.
The appellate court had in a ruling earlier in the day, granted the prayers of the appellants Pela and LP) and ordered that the petition be returned to the tribunal and be heard on its merit.
The tribunal had on July 6, this year, dismissed Pela’s petition against the declaration of Oborevwori as the duly elected governor of the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the basis that the LP candidate, who came third, abandoned his petition.
This followed the argument of lead Counsel to the Second and Third respondents (Oborevwori and Onyeme, respectively), Damian Dodo (SAN), that the petitioner failed to avail himself of the seven-day window to apply for a pre-hearing notice and that the petitioner also failed to apply for another pre-hearing notice, thereby rendering his petition abandoned.
He stated that Pela only applied for pre-hearing notice on May 19 before the close of pleadings; hence the petition was premature and incompetent and should be dismissed.
Chairperson of the tribunal, Justice C.H. Ahuchaogu, on July 5, said “the petition was incompetent and a flagrant violation of Paragraph 18, subsection one of the Fourth Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022” and therefore dismissed the petition at the resumed hearing on July 6 in in favour of Oborevwori and Onyeme.
Dissatisfied, Pela challenged the ruling, which was on technical grounds, at the Court of Appeal, which yesterday ordered the tribunal to hear the petition on its merit.
In its reaction to news that the Appeal Court had sacked Oborevwori and declared Pela as governor of the state, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Festus Ahon, yesterday in Asaba, said the higher court only ordered the tribunal to hear the case.
Ahon, in the statement, said: “The report is nothing but fake news. From the results declared by INEC, it was obvious that LP did not win the election, therefore couldn’t have won in court. We, therefore, urge party faithful and Deltans to disregard the said reports.
“We also urge Deltans to remain calm. As at the time of the fake news, Oborevwori was busy inspecting various ongoing projects within Asaba and its environs and is focused on delivering dividends of democracy to the people and would not be distracted by the rumour mills.
“Our lawyers are studying the appeal court judgment with a view to taking necessary action.”
