*Dismisses Omo-Agege’s appeal
The Supreme Court, on Friday, upheld the election of Sheriff Oborevwori as the duly elected governor of Delta State.
In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal brought before it by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to challenge the outcome of the governorship election held on March 18, 2023.
The court, in its lead judgment that was delivered by Justice Inyang Okoro, held that the appeal lacked merit.
The apex court held that the APC and its candidate did not prove that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2023.
The court also dismissed Omo-Agege’s contention that some of the result sheets that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, relied upon to declare Oborevwori as the winner of the election, did not have serial numbers.
According to the court, even if the total number of INEC forms that the appellants complained about is removed, it would still not affect the margin of lead that was in Oborevwori’s favour.
According to court, the Appellants failed to discharge the burden of proof placed on them by the law to warrant the setting aside of both the Court of Appeal judgment and the verdict of the Delta State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
Consequently, it dismissed the petition without cost.
Ripples Nigeria recalls that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that Oborevwori of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 360,234 votes to win the governorship election ahead of Omo-Agege of the APC who secured 240, 229 votes.
Dissatisfied with the result, Omo-Agege, a former Deputy Senate President, approached the court to nullify the outcome of the election.