The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed all three appeals to overturn Sheriff Oborevwori’s election as governor of Delta State.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Oborevwori of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.
But unsatisfied, the three parties headed to the court. While Oborevwori was victorious in the tribunal and at the appeal court, the parties pushed the matter to the Supreme Court.
When the case came up at the apex court, it upheld the earlier judgments and affirmed Oborevwori’s win in the Delta governorship. The Supreme Court first dismissed Ovie Omo-Agege’s appeal seeking to overturn Governor Oborevwori’s election.
The apex court held that the appellant was unable to prove his case of over-voting and noncompliance with the electoral laws.
It also dismissed other appeals for lack of merit and affirmed the election of Governor Oborevwori of the PDP. The court awards no costs and the judgment is unanimous.
The judgment was in agreement with that of the lower courts which held that the appellants were unable to prove the allegations of noncompliance contained in their petition.
Oborevwori’s Road To Victory
The verdict is coming about ten months after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Oborevwori as the winner of the Delta State governorship election.
He scored 36,0234 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Senator Ovie Omo-Agege who got 24,0229. While the Labour Party (LP) candidate Kennedy Pela came a distant third with 48,047.
Oborevwori clinched 21 out of the 25 local government areas of the state leaving the APC with four council areas.
But his opponents challenged the win and took the matter to the Delta State Election Petitions Tribunal to overturn the victory. In September, the three-member tribunal headed by Justice C.H. Ahuchaogu dismissed the petition filed by former Deputy President of the Senate Omo-Agege.
The tribunal held that the petition contained unsubstantiated allegations, noting that it was devoid of merit and speculative.
Two months later, the Court of Appeal affirmed Oborevwori’s victory in the March election.
Time To ‘Serve Fully’
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. Truly, The judiciary is the last hope of ordinary Nigerians.
The legal battles are over, it is now time to… pic.twitter.com/NnIKDkfceG
— Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori (@RtHonSheriff) January 19, 2024
In the wake of the judgment, the Governor took to his official X account to hail the verdict, thanking his supporters and Deltans for their backing.
“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,” the governor wrote.
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.
Governor Oborevwori also called on all Deltans to join hands with me to move our state forward. To God alone be the glory!
