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After hearing the arguments from both lawyers of the candidate of the All Progressive Congress in Delta state, Great Ovedje Ogboru, and the candidate of the People Democratic Party in Delta state, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa; the Court of Appeal in Abuja reserved judgement for the last governorship election held in Delta state, saying that the date(s) for judgement will be communicated to them.
In the 37-ground appeal, Okowa, PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as respondent, the appellants (Ogboru and APC) want the cort to set aside the entire judgment of the tribunal on the grounds that it (the tribunal) erred in law when it dismissed their petition and held that it lacked merit.
Nicholson Ichekor,who filed the appeal for Ogboru and APC argued that the lower court erred in law when it relied on the issue of over voting instead of allocation of votes as canvassed in their petition to dismiss their petition.
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The appellants in urging the court to nullify okowa’s election claimed that in some polling units, the total number of votes cast at the election exceeded the total number of voters who were accredited to vote, adding that there was non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act in relation to accreditation of voters.
Represented by Damien Dodo (SAN) and Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), Okowa and PDP want the court to dismiss the appeal on the grounds that the appellants failed to prove their allegations of over voting and non compliance with the Electoral Act.
Okowa and the PDP claimed that they led cogent and reliable evidence, before the tribunal, to prove their victory in the election.
They argued that the appellants, on their part, failed to prove how their claims of over-voting and that the results of the election was substantially affected by the alleged non compliance.
The five-man panel that heard the Delta State appeal was led by by Justice Uzo Ndukwe-Anyanwu.
