Appeal Court restores Oborevwori as Delta PDP governorship candidate
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday reversed the July 7, 2022 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja sacking the Delta Speaker Sheriff Oborevwori as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in next year’s election.
A three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Peter Ige, held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to have entertained the suit by David Edevbie on the grounds that the cause of action had not crystallised as at when the suit was filed.
The appellate court further held that Edevbie failed to prove his claim that Oborevwori supplied false and forged academic credentials and other documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in aid of his qualification for the governorship election.
It added that Justice Taiwo Taiwo (now retired) who delivered the July 7, 2022 judgment, erred when he upheld Edevbie’s claims after finding that the cause of action has not crystallised because Oborevwori’s name was not yet submitted to INEC and published.
The court further held that the lower court judge erred when he granted all the plaintiff’s reliefs without taking evidence of witnesses which would have included institutions that awarded certificates to Oborevwori.
“Facts were irreconcilably in conflict and could not have been resolved without oral evidence,” the appellate court held.
“There is no scintilla of evidence on record to prove that the appellant tendered forged certificate to the INEC.”
The court of appeal further held that Edevbie’s legal action was premature as Oborevwori’s name had not been submitted to INEC by the PDP at the time he filed the suit.
Also, it was decided that the first respondent (Edevbie), throughout the entirety of his lawsuit, failed to demonstrate how the PDP had violated the Electoral Act or the 1999 Constitution, as amended, in the governorship primary election held on May 25.
“The decision of the lower court was perverse and it is accordingly set aside,” the court of appeal held.
