TheCable

The supreme court has fixed October 21 to deliver its judgment in an appeal seeking to nullify the nomination of Sherrif Oborevwori,  speaker of Delta state house of assembly, as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Amina Augie, adjourned the matter for judgment after all the parties adopted their final briefs of arguments.

During the PDP primary in May, Oborevwori polled 590 votes to beat David Edevbie, the commissioner for finance during the James Ibori administration, who polled 113 votes.

While Oborevwori is the preferred candidate of Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta governor, James Ibori, former governor, is said to be backing Edevbie.

Aggrieved by the outcome of the primary, Edevbie had filed a suit against Oborevwori and the party, citing discrepancies in Oborevwori’s certificates.

Taiwo Taiwo, judge of the federal high court in Abuja, had disqualified Oborevwori for submitting false information to INEC to back his nomination as PDP’s candidate.

Not satisfied with the high court’s verdict, Oborevwori filed an appeal.

Delivering judgment on August 29, a three-member panel of the court of appeal overturned the judgment of the trial court which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Edevbie as the duly elected candidate of the PDP for the governorship election.

In the judgment, the court of appeal held that the high court erred when it relied on the originating summons brought by the plaintiff.

The appellate court noted that the allegations Edevbie raised against Oborevwori “were deeply rooted and founded in criminality”, adding that claims of that nature ought to have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt at the trial court.

The court further held that the lower court judge erred when he granted all the plaintiff’s reliefs without taking evidence of witnesses which would have included institutions that awarded certificates to Oborevwori.