Supreme Court throws out Gbagi’s appeal against Oborevwori

An appeal by Chief Kenneth Gbagi, the SDP governorship candidate in Delta State, against Governor Sheriff Oborevwori was rejected by the Supreme Court, which said it was useless, academic and a waste of time.

Gbagi had tried to challenge the rulings of the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal that denied him the chance to present new evidence he said he had found to support his petition. He had asked to reopen his case on the day the Tribunal in Asaba was to adopt the final written addresses.

The Tribunal turned down his request as strange, late and incompetent, and said that the document he wanted to use was not part of his petition. The Tribunal also ruled that Gbagi’s allegation of winning the election was baseless and that Oborevwori was eligible to run for the election.

Gbagi took his case to the Court of Appeal, which agreed with the Tribunal and threw out his appeal. He then went to the Supreme Court, hoping to reverse the judgments of the lower courts.

But the highest court, in a unanimous decision by Justice John Inyang Okoro, confirmed the decisions of the lower courts and dismissed Gbagi’s appeal as academic, useless and a waste of time.