Oborevwori Dedicates Victory To God As Court Restores Him As Delta PDP Candudate

Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevori has expressed thanks to God as a Court of Appeal, Abuja, today Monday, 29th August, 2022 reinstate him as PDP candidate for the 2023 governorship election in the state.

Oborevwori was disqualified as the candidate of PDP for Delta by Federal High Court Abuja on July 7, 2022 which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP to recognise Olorogun David Edevbie as the candidate of the party.

But a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, in a judgement delivered by Justice Ige upturned the ruling of the lower court, saying that the allegations of fraud such as fake documents can not be resolved by originating summon.

Reacting to the ruling, in a press statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Dennis Otu, the Speaker who is also the National Deputy Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, said he has always had confidence in the Nigerian Judicial system.

“I have implicit confidence in our Judicial system as it remains the last hope of the common man and I am so glad with the judgement of today. I commend the Judiciary for this judgement. To God be the glory”, he said.

“Today, the Appeal Court, Abuja has given judgement in my favour. This victory at the Appeal Court today is dedicated to our Almighty God and to all Deltans.

“This is our victory and it is for all of us because  we are one family. Therefore, let us put the past behind us now and join forces together towards winning the main general elections for PDP in 2023”.

www.bigpenngr.com reports that Oborevwori polled 590 to emerged the Delta State PDP Governorship tickets at the Wednesday, May 25th, 2022 gubernatorial primaries held in the Stephen Keshi Stadium.

Delivering the judgement of the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal which was earlier reserved and rescheduled for today, Justice Ige ruled that the allegations of fraud such as fake documents can not be resolved by originating summon.

The Appeal Court also ruled that the case of forgery cannot be decided by affidavit evidence, with the court also ruling that the suit ought to have been commenced by writ of summons and not originating summons.

The court also held that since the matter is founded on the presentation of forged documents, it will require the calling of witnesses. The court also held that the cause of action of David has not crystalized for the court to assume jurisdiction and that originating summon was wrongly done.

The Appeal Court also held that the lower court had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit and further held that the right of Edevbie to approach the court can only accrue when INEC publishes the personal particulars of Oborevwori and that Edevbie’s case was not ripe because Sheriff’s name has not been sent to INEC.

The court also held that the Federal High Court misconstrued the provisions of Section 29 of the Electoral Act and that the reasoning of the Federal High Court on the interpretation of Section 29 is erroneous.

“The judgement of the learned trial court is erroneous and is null and void as it was done without jurisdiction. Issue one is resolved in favour of the appellant,” the Appeal Court rules.