Court restores speaker of Delta Assembly, Oborevwori, as PDP governorship candidate

The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Monday, upheld the nomination of the Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborevwori, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state.

A three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Olabisi Ige, overturned the judgement of an Abuja federal high court which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise David Edevbie as the duly elected candidate of the PDP for the governorship election.

Oborevwori secured the PDP governorship ticket in the state after polling 590 votes to the state’s former commissioner for finance, David Edevbie, who scored 113 votes in the primary election held in the state in May.

Edevbie, who was backed by former Delta State governor, James Ibori, later approached the court to nullify the exercise over alleged discrepancies in Oborevwori’s certificates.

Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in June disqualified the speaker for submitting false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and ordered the commission to declare Edevbie as duly elected PDP candidate in the state.

Read also:Court disqualifies PDP governorship candidate in Delta, Oborevwori

Dissatisfied by the ruling, Oborevwori approached the appeal court to set aside the verdict.

In its ruling on Monday, a three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Olabisi Ige said the lower court erred in law by relying on originating summons brought by the plaintiff to deliver its ruling.

The judge held that the former commissioner failed to prove his claims beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

“There is no sufficient evidence on ground to prove that the appellant tendered forged certificate to the INEC,” Justice Ige stated.

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