Delta State Governorship election: Appeal Court reserved judgment
The Appeal Court sitting in Benin, Edo state has reserved judgment in the petition challenging the judgment of the Delta state’s governorship election petitions tribunal which had in October declared Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the April gubernatorial poll.
The governorship petitions tribunal, which sat in Asaba, had on October 26, ruled in favour of Okowa, his party, the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), dismissing the petitions filed by Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Emerhor had approached the election petition tribunal to nullify the election on the grounds of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa will have to wait a little longer to know his fateHis petition
was however thrown out by the tribunal who declared Okowa duly elected governor of the state. But dissatisfied with the decision of the lower tribunal, Emerhor and the APC, approached the Appeal Court, asking the court to set-aside the judgement of the tribunal and order a rerun election in the state.
However, the Appeal Court in Benin, after the parties in the appeal had adopted their final addresses, reserved its judgement, The Nation reports.
Presiding over the sitting, Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, chairman of the five-man panel of Appeal Court judges said the date of the judgement will be communicated to the parties, while assuring them that justice will be done.
With 724,680 votes, Governor Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa, in last Saturday’s governorship election in Delta state was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Prof. Bio Nyananyo, the state returning officer, of the Federal University of Otuoke, Bayelsa state, announced the result as Okowa’s nearest rival, Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru of Labour Party (LP) scored 130,028 votes while the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor came third with 67,825 votes.
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