August 29, (THEWILL) – The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has restored the Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly Oborevwori Sheriff as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the State in the 2023 elections.
The appellate court voided and set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court which nullified his nomination on grounds of certificate forgery and perjury
.THEWILL reports that the Federal High court presided over by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, had on Thursday, July 7, 2022, disqualified Oborevwori, as governorship candidate of the PDP for the 2023 guber election in Delta state.
Justice Taiwo had faulted the certificates and other documents filed by Sheriff Oborevwori for nomination as governorship candidate of the PDP and ordered the party and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Olorogun David Edevbie as the rightful and lawful candidate of the party for the 2023 Delta governorship election..
Delivering Judgment on Monday, Justice Peter Ige, held that claims against the Speaker are criminal in nature and must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
He also held that Edevbie, who instituted the Federal High Court suit, ought to have approached the court through a Writ of Summons to enable the resolution of disputes and not by originating summons where only affidavit evidence is required.
The court held that allegations of certificate forgery and fake documents against the Speaker are such that required witnesses from those who issued the certificates and the alleged fake documents.
The court also held that the Federal High Court misconstrued the provisions of Section 29 of the Electoral Act and declared its interpretation as erroneous.
“The judgement of the learned trial court is erroneous and is null and void as it was done without jurisdiction. Issue one is resolved in favour of the appellant”, the Appeal Court rules.
Justice Ige, therefore, affirmed the victory of the Speaker in the May 25 primary election where he polled 590 votes to defeat Edevbie who scored only 113 votes to come second.
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