Omo-Agege, Gbagi petition tribunal over Delta gov poll

The Deputy President of the Senate and Delta State governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress in the March 18, 2023 election, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has filed a petition at the election tribunal challenging the declaration of the Peoples Democratic Party, candidate, Sheriff Oborevwori, as the winner of the poll.

The Independent National Electoral Commission was joined as a defendant in the suit filed on Thursday.

Although the Director of Media and Communication of the Delta APC Governorship Campaign Council, Ima Niboro, confirmed the report, details of the prayers of the APC governorship candidate before the election tribunal could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.

Also, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Kenneth Gbagi, has asked the state election petitions tribunal to nullify the declaration of Oborevwori as the winner of the governorship poll.

In the petition filed in Asaba, Gbagi contended that at the time of the election, Oborevwori was not qualified to run for the office of the governor of the state and also did not meet the requirement to be elected and returned by the majority of lawful votes.

Joined in the suit as co-defendants are INEC, PDP, APC and its governorship candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, and all other governorship candidates in the state and their parties.

According to the petition, Gbagi said that aside from Oborevwori, other candidates were also not qualified to contest the election.

He, therefore, urged the tribunal to declare him as the only qualified candidate for the election, nullify the certificate of return issued by INEC to Oborevwori and order INEC to issue a fresh certificate of return to him (Gbagi).

In the alternative, he also prayed the tribunal to order a fresh election due to irregularities and non-compliance to the election guideline on the use of the bimodal voter accreditation system.