Good Hope as Sherriff Wins for Deltans.
What shall I say unto the Lord,
All I have to say is thank you, Lord,
Thank you, Lord; Thank you, Lord,
All I have to say is thank you, Lord.
“What’s the praise for, and why the excitement?” you might ask.
I’ll tell you.
Good Hope as Sherriff Wins for Deltans
On Wednesday, May 25, 2022, the Delta State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, held its primary election for its aspirants who intended to contest the 2023 governorship election in the state.
The said election, which was held at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, the capital of Delta State, was contested by thirteen aspirants or thereabout, including Rt. Hon. Sherriff Francis Orohwedor Oborevwori, the incumbent Speaker of the state and Olorogun David Edevbie, the former Commissioner for Finance during Chief James Ibori’s years as the governor of the state.
At the end of the election, Rt. Hon. Oborevwori polled 590 votes to beat his closest rival, Olorogun Edevbie, who got only 113 votes.
Aggrieved by the outcome of the primary, Olorogun Edevbie decided to file a suit against Rt. Hon. Oborevwori and the party, PDP, citing discrepancies in Rt. Hon. Oborevwori’s certificates.
The Federal High Court via its judge, Taiwo Taiwo, on July 7, 2022, disqualified Rt. Hon. Oborevwori for allegedly submitting false information to INEC to back his nomination as PDP’s candidate.
Not satisfied with the high court’s verdict, Rt. Hon. Oborevwori took the matter to the Federal Court of Appeal for better handling.
The Appeal Court, in its ruling on August 29, 2022, held that Taiwo Taiwo’s High Court erred when it relied on the originating summons brought by the plaintiff.
The higher court consequently overturned the judgement of the Abuja Federal High Court which had directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognise Olorogun Edevbie as the duly elected candidate of the PDP for the governorship election.
“There is no scintilla of evidence on record to prove that the appellant tendered a forged certificate to the INEC,” the Appeal Court concluded.
When everyone thought that the matter had been settled, by the ruling of the Appeal Court, Olorogun David Edevbie, proceeded to the Supreme Court to challenge the August 29, 2022 verdict of the Federal Court of Appeal, which upturned the removal of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori as the Delta PDP governorship candidate in the 2023 election and declared him as the legally qualified gubernatorial candidate of the PDP.
Supporting Olorogun Edevbie’s decision to go to the Supreme Court was Chief Clement Ofuani, the Director-General of the Edevbie Campaign Organisation and the pioneer Commissioner for Economic Planning in Delta State and later Economic Adviser to the Governor of the state.
Others were Karo Ilolo, a former Commissioner for Urban Renewal and a member of the Edevbie Campaign Organisation; and Hon. Peter Onwusanya, former Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly.
While commenting on the judgement of the Appeal Court, Ilolo said: “What the appellate court did was a miscarriage of justice, but we will recover our mandate at the Supreme Court,” Ilolo said.
Hon. Former Onwusanya, on his own part, said the Appeal Court judgement has come only to spur Edevbie Delta Modernisation Movement to harder work, saying Edevbie’s supporters were unperturbed by whatever ill-treatment that a section of the party’s lol leadership might mete out to them as they remained dedicated members of the PDP.
Unfortunately, their hopes were completely dashed as the Supreme Court of the land, today, Friday, October 21, 2022, affirmed the honourable Speaker of our state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Oborevwori, as the right candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 governorship election in the state.
Justice Tijani Abubakar, who delivered the judgment dismissed the appeal of David Edevbie for lacking in merit and upheld the judgement of the Appeal Court of August 29, 2022.
“The decision of the court below is hereby affirmed” Justice Abubakar held.
What this means, therefore, is that Rt. Hon. Oborevwori finally remains the duly and Divine elected, substantive, and authentic PDP governorship candidate in the race of who becomes the governor of Delta State in 2023.
This is not the time to celebrate a winner and to mock a loser because the judgement of the apex court of our land is a victory for the entire Delta PDP family, not for the Child of Grace, Rt. Hon. Oborevwori, alone.
As far as I am concerned, there was no victor and no vanquish.
I, therefore, want to use this opportunity to appeal to all PDP faithful, including and especially Olorogun David Edevbie and his supporters, to close ranks and join the rest members of the PDP in the march towards winning the 2023 governorship election in our state, Delta.
In the words of Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, Delta State PDP Publicity Secretary, “The Delta State PDP heartily rejoices with all our faithful, loyal, and committed members of the PDP family as we celebrate the Supreme Court judgement, which finally confirmed Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, as our duly elected governorship candidate and party flagbearer for the 2023 election.
“The litigation, which centred around the legal affirmation of our authentic Governorship candidate, had initially given fleeting but misplaced expectations to the fractured opposition APC, but their hopes have been comprehensively and completely dashed with the decisive judgement of the Supreme Court, which has now settled the matter once and for all.
“We congratulate all members of our great PDP Delta family over this massive judgement from the Supreme Court, which has not only settled all doubts and disquiet in our party but has, most importantly, strengthened our position and resolve to embrace our campaigns with renewed energy and vigour, as we march towards victory in 2023.
“As we celebrate this very important landmark judgement which is a major family victory in the life of our party, we hereby appeal strongly and sincerely to all our members, especially Olorogun David Edevbie, to wholeheartedly embrace the Supreme Court’s decision, in our collective quest to build a most formidable campaign team that will not only decimate the opposition but also deliver resounding landslide victories in all our elections, especially the Governorship poll.
“Now that the legal fireworks are over and done with, we call on all our loyal, committed, and unwavering party members, to come together as one big united family, sheath their swords and let bygones be bygones. Our ultimate goal now is to win the 2023 general elections in all positions and with everyone joining hands and all pulling in one definite, unwavering direction towards victory, we will be totally unbeatable and even more formidable, as the party of the people.”
There’s good hope as Sherriff wins for Deltans.
My dear members of the PDP family, let us celebrate the ruling of the Supreme Court for the battle to Osadebe House, Asaba, which is half-won.
All I have to say is thank you, Lord.
Good Hope as Sherriff Wins for Deltans. THE END.
By Victor O’Dyle. Victor O’Dyle is a journalist, author, information and communications technology, ICT, professional, the Chief Executive Officer of Vicmoore Digital Image, a media/Internet company, and the Media/ICT Director of ICT Like-Minds for PDP.
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