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The Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba has affirmed lfeanyi Okowa, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the 2019 Delta State Governorship polls over Great Ogboru of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the three-man tribunal chaired by Justice Suleiman Belgore on Friday delivered its verdict in the petition marked EPT/DT/GOV/01/2019 challenging the reelection of Okowa as governor of Delta.
The tribunal had earlier adjourned the matter for judgment after counsel to the respective parties had adopted their final written briefs.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okowa winner of the election but APC and Ogboru, dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, approached the tribunal to challenge the result.
The petitioners are alleging that the election was fraught with irregularities, over-voting and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act and guidelines for the said election.
The APC and Ogboru, therefore, prayed the court to nullify the election and order INEC to conduct a fresh exercise, or in the alternative, declare him winner on the ground that he scored majority of lawful votes cast at the poll.
In their final written addresses, counsel to the first respondent (Okowa), D.D. Dodo, second respondent (PDP), A.T. Kehinde; and third respondent (INEC), John Olusola, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit, incompetent, adding that the petition suffered a shipwreck.
But petitioners’ counsel, Nichols Icheko, urged the tribunal to grant the prayers, insisting the allegations of rigging and over-voting were proved beyond reasonable doubt.
However, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove that Okowa was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election.
The tribunal described Ogboru’s attempt to overturn the victory of Okowa as “opportunistic and gold digging”.
Recall that Ogboru was a viable opposition candidate to Delta’s governor, James Ibori under the PDP in the year 2003 and contested the governorship elections in Delta in 2003, and lost.
In the 2007 election, Ogboru again contested for governorship under the flag of the Democracy People Party (DPP) against Emmanuel Uduaghan of the PDP, and again, lost.
He also again lost to Uduagha in the 2011 election he contested under the umbrella of the Labour Party (LP).
In the 2015 Delta State governorship election, Ogboru again contested for governorship under the umbrella of APC, and was yet again defeated by Ifeanyi Okowa of the PDP.
The 2019 governorship election of Delta State was the second time in two election cycles that Okowa would defeat Ogboru to win the Delta governorship election.
In the 2019 governorship election of Delta State, Ogboru again contested under the APC against incumbent Okowa, he polled a total 215,938 votes, while Okowa a total of 925,274 votes.
However, Ogboru petitioned the electoral process alleging that the election was fraught with irregularities, over-voting and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act and guidelines for the said election.
Declaring Okowa winner, the tribunal ruled that the petitioners, APC and Ogboru could not prove allegations of over voting in 15 LGAs: no witnesses were called in about 9 LGAs to prove over voting and where witnesses were called, evidences were at variance with pleadings, and goes to no issue.
The tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove that Okowa was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election.
It described Ogboru’s attempt to overturned the victory of Okowa as “opportunistic and gold digging”.
“Documents tendered through the bar without proper foundation and frontloading is like a storm in a tea cup and have no evidential value
“5 witnesses in over 896 polling units called by the petitioner is grossly inadequate. Note: Delta has over 3000 polling units
“Finally we found that Gov. Okowa won crystal clear,” the Tribunal declared, authenticating the result of the governorship election and dismissing the petition of Ogboru and APC.
This medium earlier reported that the tribunal temporarily halted today’s governorship election petition ruling due to power outrage.