The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba, on Tuesday, declared the February 25 Delta Central Senatorial District election inconclusive. The tribunal panel headed by Justice W.I. Kpochi held that the certificate of return initially issued to Senator Ede Dafinone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be set aside.
The tribunal also ordered a re-run in 48 units across four out of eight local government areas in the district.
The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Ighoyota Amori, had approached the tribunal, seeking to be declared as winner or in the alternative, the court should order a re-run in the contentious four council areas.
Meanwhile, the tribunal upheld the election of Benedict Etanabene of the Labour Party as a member representing Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie federal constituency.
In validating Etanabene’s election, Justice Kpochi dismissed the petition filed by the candidate of the PDP, Evelyn Oboro for lack of merit.
Oboro, a former member of the House and former Commissioner for Water Resources in the state, had in her petition, sought the disqualification of Etanabene on the ground that he didn’t duly resign his teaching position from the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun.
INEC had declared Etanabene who polled 37,107 votes as duly elected while Oboro scored 29,917 in the election.
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