The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by Ikie Aghwarianovwe, which sought to disqualify Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, News About Nigeria reports.
The court held that the appeal lacked merit as the appellant failed to substantiate his case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Emmanuel Agim emphasized that the differences in names and an error in the date of birth, not proven to be falsified by the respondent, did not constitute sufficient grounds for disqualification.
The court ordered Ikie to pay N3 million each as costs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Governor.
The legal battle commenced in October 2022 when Chief Ikie, a governorship aspirant of the PDP, filed a suit against Oborevwori and the PDP, alleging that the Governor submitted forged documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2019 House of Assembly election in Delta State.
Ikie further claimed that these alleged forgeries rendered Oborevwori ineligible to run in the 2023 governorship election.
Oborevwori and the PDP vehemently denied the forgery allegations and raised objections, arguing that the suit was statute-barred.
They made it clear that documents submitted to INEC in 2018, pertaining to the 2019 general election, could not serve as a basis for disqualification in 2023.
Initially assigned to Hon. Justice Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, the case was later transferred to Asaba, Delta State.
The trial court upheld the objections raised by the defendants, noting the failure of Ikie to substantiate the forgery allegations.
Unsatisfied with the ruling, Ikie appealed to the Court of Appeal, but the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the decision of the trial court. It resolved all the issues raised in favor of Oborevwori.
