Delta tribunal affirms Nwoko’s victory, orders rerun in Warri South council
National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Asaba, has affirmed the election of senator representing Delta North senatorial zone in Delta State, Chief Ned Nwoko of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25, 2023 election.
The tribunal further dismissed two petitions filed against Nwoko’s election from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP) candidates in the election.
The three-man Tribunal led by Justice Catherine Ogunsola dismissed the petition filed by the Labour Party’s candidate, Ken Kanmma for lack of merit.
Delivering the unanimous judgment, the Tribunal held that the petitioner failed to prove his case as he could not tender before the Tribunal any relevant document to prove a case of non-compliance as contained in the petition.
Also, the Tribunal dismissed a petition of the APC candidate, filed by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi. The petition was dismissed by the Tribunal and a cost of N500,000 awarded against the petitioner.
However, in its ruling, Thursday, the tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a supplementary election within a period of 90 days in a petition brought against the victory of APC candidate, Joel Onowakpo-Thomas by PDP candidate, Michael Diden in the Delta South Senatorial District poll.
Diden and his party in their petition prayed the court to void INEC’s declaration of Onowakpo-Thomas as senator-elect on the grounds that he “was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election and that his election was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The petitioners, amongst others, are seeking an order of the Tribunal collating the results of the election conducted in Warri South Local Government Area to the lawful votes recorded in favour of the parties and declare the winner of the election based on the collation.
The Tribunal agreed with the claim of the petitioner consequently declared a rerun only in Warri South council where the election was reportedly cancelled.
