The Abuja Court of Appeal on Thursday ordered the Delta State Governorate Election Appeals Court in Asaba to rehear the Labor Party gubernatorial candidate. Ken PelaPetition seeking to revoke the election of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori.
The appeals court blamed the court for dismissing Mr. Pela’s petition because the pre-hearing notice was not filed within seven days of the petition filing date.
In a ruling on Thursday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeals ordered the court to retry the lawsuit on its merits.
The three-member panel of the tribunal headed by CH Ahuchaogu had held in July that “the petition was incompetent” and constituted “a flagrant violation of… the Electoral Law of 2022”.
The court explained that the dismissal was due to Mr. Pela abandoning his petition.
Dissatisfied with the decision, Mr. Pela turned to the Court of Appeals, urging it to compel the court to hear his claim on its merits.
Oborevwori won the gubernatorial election in March on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
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The governor polled 360,234 votes to beat his closest rival, Ovie Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Party (APC), who polled 240,229.
Pela came third with 48,027 votes, but urged the court to annul Oborevwori’s victory for failing to qualify and violating the Electoral Law during elections conducted by Nigeria’s electoral commission, INEC.
Following INEC’s declaration that Oborevwori was the winner of the election, Pela filed the lawsuit to annul the governor’s victory.
In the petition, Pela named INEC as the first defendant, while Oborevwori and his deputy, Monday Onyeme, were the second and third defendants, respectively.
PPD joined the petition as the fourth defendant.
With the legal duration of 180 days of the lawsuit about to expire, Pela lamented that the judicial system “frustrates” the administration of justice.