By Yemi Yusuf
As the National Election Tribunal for the Gubernatorial and House of Assembly Elections commences sitting in Asaba, Delta State, the Deputy President of the Senate and All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate for Delta State, Ovie Omo-Agege has challenged the victory of the People Democratic Party, PDP, candidate Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori who was declared winner of the governorship election in the State.
In his petition against the Governor-elect, Omo-Agege urged the tribunal to cancel the victory of the PDP candidate, and declare him winner of the governorship poll.
The Deputy President of the Senate who is also leader of his party in the state and by extension the South-South has galvanized the party in the state to win two senatorial seats, Delta South and Delta Central, and several seats in the House of Representatives and State House of Assembly at the last poll.
In his petition, the APC candidate is praying the court to set aside the announcement of Oborevwori as the winner of the poll and declare him as the person who won through the lawful votes cast in the last poll.
Omo-Agege alleges massive rigging of the election through fraudulent counting, collation, recording of false results and declaration of the results across the 25 Local Government areas of the State, and urged the Tribunal to declare him winner instead.
Other candidates in the last governorship election who have filed petition against the PDP Candidate are Esther Esevohe of the Action Alliance, AA and Mr. Kenneth Gbagi who is suing Oborevwori along with the candidates of the APC, the Labour Party and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, over the outcome of the same Governorship election.
Already, the tribunal has fixed Monday 25th May, 2023 for the Pre-Hearing in the Governorship petitions. At the heart of the petition is the ascertainment of the valid votes cast and recorded for the candidates in the election.
In his petition against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Senator Omo-Agege was praying the court for safe custody of the ballot papers and production of same by INEC and a re-count by the tribunal appointed officers assisted by representatives of the parties.
Omo-Agege’s petition, especially his insistence on a recount of the ballots paper has sent shivers through the camp of the PDP and INEC, according to political watchers.
There is already pressure on INEC to produce the ballot papers, the basis upon which it declared Hön Sheriff Oborevwori of the PDP the Governor-elect. Pundits suspect that a ballot recount will expose the rigging machinery of the PDP across the Local Governments in the elections.
The questions on the lips of Deltans are whether the INEC will fail to rely on the ballots its officials used to declare the Winner of the Election and whether the ruling party in the state, the PDP will be bold enough to allow the ballots to be counted.
The recent decision by the Supreme Court which illustrated the relevance of BVAS in proving over-voting while affirming the election of Governor Ademola Adeleke as Governor of Osun state, may have serious consequences on the ruling of the Tribunal in the state.
