Chief Ikie Aghwarianovwe’s appeal seeking the disqualification of Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Friday, based on a lack of merit.
The apex court, through Justice Emmanuel Agim, delivered a unanimous judgment, highlighting that the appellant did not present conclusive evidence to substantiate his case beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to Justice Agim, ‘the mere fact that there were differentials in names does not amount to falsity.’
‘An error in date of birth in a certificate not shown evidentially to emanate from the respondent cannot amount to falsity.’
The court, while dismissing the appeal for lacking in merit, issued an order for Chief Ikie to pay N3 million each as costs to the PDP and Rt. Hon. Oborevwori.
Chief Ikie, an aspiring PDP gubernatorial candidate, lodged a legal complaint against Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori and the PDP in October 2022. The complaint alleged that the former had submitted falsified documents to INEC to secure eligibility for the 2019 House of Assembly election in Delta State.
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The suit, which was originally filed before Hon. Justice Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja but subsequently transferred to Asaba, Delta State, involved Chief Ikie’s claim that Rt. Hon. Oborevwori’s qualification to contest the 2023 gubernatorial election was compromised by the submission of forged documents.
Responding to the forgery accusation, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori and the PDP denied the claim and raised an objection, stating that the lawsuit was statute barred. They emphasized that the documents submitted to INEC in 2018 for the 2019 general election could not be used to disqualify a candidate in the 2023 election.
Upholding the defendants’ objection, the trial court concluded that Chief Ikie had not sufficiently supported the accusations of forgery.
Chief Ikie, not content with the trial court’s decision, took the case to the Court of Appeal to appeal the judgment. However, the Court of Appeal, presided over by Justice Peter Olabisi Ige, upheld the trial court’s judgment and resolved all the issues in favor of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori.
The Court strongly rebuked Chief Ikie for making allegations of document falsification against Rt. Hon. Oborevwori without presenting testimonies from the relevant issuing institutions. The Court ruled that Chief Ikie’s case was defunct and could not be resurrected under any circumstances.