SEE WAHALA: WHY I ASKED TRIBUNAL TO DISQUALIFY DELTA STATE GOVERNOR-ELECT OBOREVWORI, OMO-AGEGE, TWO OTHERS – SDP GUBER CANDIDATE, GBAGI
The Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Delta State, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, on Tuesday revealed why he waited till after the Governorship election before asking the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to disqualify his counterparts from other political parties over irregularities in some of their documents before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Gbagi came 5th in the Delta State gubernatorial election conducted on March 18, 2023 by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The candidates of other political parties he asked the tribunal disqualify include the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who is the Governor-elect of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, All Progressives Congress (APC), Ovie Omo-Agege, Labour Party (LP), Ken Pela and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Great Ovedje Ogboru over non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
Gbagi who spoke at a press conference in Abuja, said having discovered deficiencies in the documents, he did not bother to file a pre-election case because he lacked the locus standi to do so since he was not a member of the respective political parties concerned.
He claimed that since the four candidates who came tops during the Governorship poll in Delta State were not ‘qualified’ to contest the election in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, the Tribunal should declare him as the duly elected governor of the state.
Gbagi asked the Election Petition Tribunal to disqualify the Governor-elect of Delta State Sheriff Oborevwori, over alleged falsified Statutory Declaration of Age, among others.
He said it was the right time to bring up the matter as records and experience have shown that pre-election cases most times do not go far.
Go back to the Electoral Act, I could not have raised an objection on issue of a candidate of a party that I am not a member.
Every one who went to pre-election matter, none of them went any where, this is the appropriate time, to raise this issue.
I am a candidate, and I am saying, we are candidates of the election, but these people who are candidates ought not to be candidates and the tribunal is the appropriate place.”
The SDP Guber candidate, in the petition urged the tribunal to “declare null, void and of no effect whatsoever” the Certificate of Return issued to the candidate of PDP, Oborevwori, as winner of the governorship election in Delta state and issue another one to him as as duly qualified and elected governor.
“For those of us, who contested, and participated, I am the only one on the list that is qualified.
The election has been held, marks were allocated to us, my prayer is that they were not qualified, and I should be declared as the winner of the election because I am the only qualified candidate in the first instance,” Gbagi said.
In a Certified True Copy of his petition to the Election Tribunal with No. EPT/DL/Gov/2/2023 Gbagi claimed that Oborevwori falsified Declaration of Age/Affidavit in support of personal particulars in Form C.F. 001 (Affidavit in Support of Personal Particulars of Persons Seeking Election to the Office/Membership of State House of Assembly) Dated 24th October 2018, and Form EC9 (Affidavit in Support of Personal Particulars) Dated 30th Day of June 2022 to INEC.
He stated that the Governor-elect’s Statutory Declaration of Age/Affidavit deposed to in 2022 contains a different age contrary to what is contained in his West African Senior School Certificate (WASSC) dated June 1999 with Certificate Number 384793.
He accused Oborevwori of lying under oath that he does not have Primary School Certificate, Secondary School Certificate, and university degree, whereas, in 2018, he exhibited same with his Form C. F. 001.
He added that the suit challenging Oborevwori’s qualification to contest the Governorship Election of Delta State held on 18th day of March 2023 was filed and decided at the Federal High Court, Asaba based on alleged forged credentials.
Gbagi posited that doing so was contrary to the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in Saleh v. Abah, (2017) 12 (NWLR) PT. 1578 AT P. 100.
He also claimed that the Deputy Governor-elect, Monday Onyeme, was allegedly dismissed from the employment of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) but failed to disclose the fact of his dismissal in his affidavit Form EC9 deposed to on 29th day of June 2022.
Gbagi, in the 79-page petition, also sought the disqualification of the candidates of the All Progressives Congress, Ovie Omo-Agege, Labour Party, Ken Pela and All Progressives Grand Alliance, Great Ovedje Ogboru over non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
Gbagi, a former Minister of Education, also hinged his call for the disqualification of other Governorship candidates on the various degrees of electoral malpractice at the march 18 poll in Delta.
He listed the alleged malpractices to include: over voting and vote buying induced by the candidates.
He said there were situations where the total number of votes recorded and allotted were more than the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collected by voters and exceeded the number of registered voters in the polling unit.
Other electoral infractions, according to him, included alteration of some results sheets which did not reflect on the duplicate copies given to party agents, mutilation of form EC8As, polling units without corresponding voting points result sheets, over and under balloting, among others.
