BREAKING: Tribunal dismisses Ogboru’s petition, affirms Gov Okowa’s Victory

The Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba, the state capital has affirmed the election of the incumbent governor Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP as duly elected governor of the March 9 2019 governorship election in the state.

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Great Ogboru had in a petition marked EPT/DT/GOV/01/2019, challenged the reelection of Ifeanyi Okowa of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who was declared the winner of the March 9, 2019 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Ogboru in his petition has alleged that the governorship election in the state was marred by massive rigging and electoral irregularities, and that places where election took place he won and should therefore be declared winner having scored the highest number of lawful votes cast.

The tribunal which was earlier forced to suspend ruling on the petition challenging Okowa’s victory over power failure at the tribunal, on resumption, declared Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as the winner of the governorship election.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared Okowa, the Governorship Candidate of the PDP, winner in the March 9 election, having polled 925, 274 votes to defeat Chief Great Ogboru of the APC, who scored 215, 938 votes.

The chairman of the 3-man panel, Justice Sulaiman Bolgore, in its lead judgment, dismissed Ogboru’s petition for lack of merit.

Chairman of the three-man tribunal, Justice Suleiman Belgore threw out the petition in its entirety in a judgment on Friday.

The tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove that Okowa was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election.

Justice Belgore held that the petition is opportunistic and gold digging, and dismissed it.