The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to hear, on merit, a petition filed by the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate in the last election, Ken Pela, challenging the election of Sheriff Oborevwori of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
A three-member panel of the appellate court held, in a judgment on Thursday, August 31, that as against the finding of the tribunal, Pela and his party did not abandon their petition, marked: EPT/DL/GOV/01/2023.
The court then ordered the petition back to the tribunal for hearing within the time stipulated in the Electoral Act.
The judgment was on the appeal marked: CA/AS/EP/GOV/DL/04/2023, filed by Pela and his party against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and six others.
LP’s Pela, who came third behind Oborevwori and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had challenged the outcome of the election and prayed the tribunal to among others, void Oborevwori’s return as the winner.
In a judgment on July 6, the tribunal, with Justice C. H. Achuchaogu as chairman, held that the petition was deemed abandoned on the grounds that the petitioners’ application for pre-hearing session was not properly filed.
The tribunal proceeded to dismiss it l, holding among others, that “the petition was incompetent and a flagrant violation of Paragraph 18(1) of the 4th Schedule to the Electoral Act 2023.”