Court serves order on INEC sacking Oborevwori, declares Edevbie as PDP governorship candidate

From Ufuoma Omojirhe

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been served with the court order which disqualified Sheriff Oborevwori as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Delta State.

Mr Oborevwori, who is also the Speaker of the Delta House of Assembly, was accused of supplying false information and submitting forged certificates in order to take part and emerge as the winner of the PDP governorship primary in the state.

The order, issued on July 7 by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, was served on INEC in its headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

It directed the PDP and INEC to replace Mr Oborevwori’s name with that of the plaintiff, David Edevbie, who scored the second highest votes in the party’s governorship primary.

“The 1st Defendant (Mr Oborevwori) should and ought to be prohibited, prevented or otherwise restrained from holding out, parading and or advertising himself as the candidate of the 2nd Defendant (PDP) for the forthcoming Gubernatorial elections in Delta State scheduled to hold on 11 March, 2023 by the 3rd Defendant (INEC),” Justice Taiwo said in the order.

Mr Oborevwori is said to have used the names Oborevwori Sheriff and Francis Orohwedor interchangeably in his certificates submitted to INEC.

Sacking of Oborevwori has enormous political loss to the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, who had given his political backing.

Mr Edevbie, the man who is replacing Mr Oborevwori, is a known ally of a former governor of Delta State, James Ibori.

An influential group in Delta State, Urhobo Progress Union, had endorsed Mr Edevbie for the governorship election prior to the PDP primary which produced Mr Oborevwori.

Mr Oborevwori has gone to the Court of Appeal, Abuja, asking the appellate court to set aside the order which sacked him.