Delta PDP governorship ticket battle taken to Supreme Court

The People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) contest for the governorship ticket in Delta State for the 2023 election has finally been referred to the Supreme Court for a ruling.

David Edevbie and Oborevwori Sheriff Orohwedor, the two candidates for the ticket, have sent their legal teams to the Apex Court to determine who will represent the PDP at the gubernatorial election.

According to court documents seen by our correspondent, while David Edevbie is pleading with the Supreme Court to uphold the decision of the Federal High Court declaring him the PDP candidate, Sheriff Orohwedor is pleading with the Apex Court to support the Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn the high court’s judgment.

Our correspondent further reported that the two parties had gathered approximately 15 Senior Advocates of Nigeria SANS to engage in the legal showdown.

Justice Amina Augie, who was nominated by Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN, Olukayode Ariwoola, to lead the panel that would settle the issue, has set September 30 as the deadline for the suit’s conclusion in order to avoid it from being legally ineffective.

On the basis of certificate forgery and other criminal allegations, a Federal High Court in Abuja previously disqualified Sheriff Orohwedor, who is currently the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, from the race for governor. He was later replaced by David Edevbie, who finished second in the PDP primary.

On August 29, however, the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned the Federal High Court’s ruling and reinstated Sheriff Orohwedor as the flag bearer.

The Federal High Court’s decision to invalidate his nomination on July 7, 2022, based on certificate forgery and perjury, was overturned and set aside by the appellate court.

Claims against the Speaker must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, according to Justice Peter Olabisi Ige, who wrote the opinion for the Court of Appeals.

The Appellate Court also ruled that David Edevbie, who brought the Federal High Court lawsuit, should have contacted the court via Writ of Summons rather than originating summons, which merely calls for affidavit evidence.

According to Justice Ige, the claims of document forgery and certificate fraud against the Speaker required testimony from the people who granted the certifications and the purportedly fraudulent documents.

The Speaker won the primary election on May 25, 2022, with 590 votes to Edevbie’s 113 votes, earning him the victory. The Court upheld this result.

Justice Ige ruled that the criminal claims against the Speaker were not proven as needed by law, and that as a result, Justice Taiwo Taiwo’s verdict supporting certificate forgery against the Speaker was an injustice.