The Delta State governorship election petitions tribunal, sitting in Asaba, has dismissed the petition of the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, Ken Pela for abandoning his petition against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Sheriff Oborevwori.
Pela had in a petition marked EPT/DL/GOV/01/23, challenged the outcome of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state and sought leave of the tribunal to upturn the declaration of the PDP candidate, Sheriff Oborevwori as Delta state governor.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was joined in the petition as 1st respondent while the PDP governorship candidate and governor of Delta, Oborevwori and his deputy, Monday Onyeme are 2nd and 3rd respondents respectively with the PDP as the 4th respondent.
Reasons for the petition dismissal
The lead counsel for the 2nd and 3rd respondents, Damian Dodo (SAN) argued in an earlier application that the Labour Party’s petition had been abandoned, stressing that the petitioner failed to avail himself of the seven-day window to apply for pre-hearing notice.
According to Dodo, the petitioner also failed to apply for another pre-hearing notice, effectively rendering his petition abandoned.
He added that the petitioner applied for pre-hearing notice on May 19, 2023, before the close of pleadings and as such the petition was premature and incompetent.
Ruling on the petition on Thursday, the Chairman of the Panel, Justice C.H Ahuchaogu, said the petition was incompetent and a flagrant violation of paragraph 18 subsection 1 of the 4th Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022.
“The petition is incompetent and was issued in flagrant violation of paragraph 18 subsection 1 of the 4th Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022.
“We resolve this application in favour of the 2nd and 3rd applicants. There is merit in the application seeking to dismiss this petition and accordingly, petition EPT/DL/GOV/01/2023 is hereby dismissed,” Ahuchaogu, ruled.
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