Victor EzejaSupreme Court has ruled that Sheriff Oborevwori was validly elected as governor of Delta State in the 18 March 2023 elections.
The apex court in its ruling on Friday, affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal that had affirmed the election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Oborevwori, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as winner of the governorship election.
However, some opposition candidates aggrieved by the outcome of the poll, including Ovie Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ken Pela of the Labour Party (LP), and Kenneth Gbagi of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), filed separate petitions before the state governorship election petition tribunal.
On September 29, the tribunal sitting in Asaba ruled that Oborevwori won the 18 March governorship election.
Subsequently, the Court of Appeal after dismissing the appeal by the APC on November 24, 2023, affirmed Oborevwori’s election.
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Omo-Agege, a former Deputy Senate President and his party, the APC proceeded to the Supreme Court and filed an appeal asking the court to set aside the rulings of the two lower courts.
At the Supreme Court, Omo-Agege had argued that the election was not carried out in a way that substantially complied with the Electoral Act’s rules.
He informed the apex court that certain polling places had not accurately recorded the results of the governorship race, and that some of the documents with the recorded results lacked serial numbers.
In its ruling on Friday, a five-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Inyang Okoro dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit and being incompetent.
“The appeal lacks merit and the concurrent findings of the two lower costs are hereby affirmed.
“Appeal is hereby dismissed.
“Parties are to bear their respective costs” Justice Okoro held.
Commenting on his victory at the apex court, Governor Oborevwori thanked the judiciary and his legal team.
He added that with court battles over, it is now time to face the task of governance and called on all including his opponents in the election to join hands in moving the state forward.
“To the glory of God, the Supreme Court today affirmed me as the duly elected Governor of Delta State. I commend the judiciary, my legal team, supporters and all Deltans,” Oborevwori wrote on his X handle.
“Truly, The judiciary is the last hope of ordinary Nigerians. The legal battles are over, it is now time to continue to serve fully the people of Delta state in line with my God given vision, the MORE agenda. And l hereby invite all to join hands with me to move our state forward,” he added.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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