The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Delta State, and deputy senate president, Ovie Omo-Agege, has rejected the declaration of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Sheriff France Oborevwori, as winner of the governorship and House of Assembly elections held Saturday March 18, 2023. Omo-Agege, who vowed to challenge Oborevwori’s victory in court, was confident that “the PDP’s pyrrhic celebration of a stolen mandate will be short-lived”. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s Returning Officer, Prof Georgewill Owuneri Abraham, had Monday afternoon at the commission’s state headquarters in Asaba, announced the speaker of the state House of Assembly, and PDP candidate winner of the keenly contested elections with 360, 234 votes, beating Omo-Agege to a second position with 240,229. The Labour Party candidate, Ken Pela, scored 48,047 votes. According to official results, while Oborevwori won in 21 local government areas, Omo-Agege won in only four. However, in a swift reaction, Senator Omo-Agege, in a statement signed by Sunny Areh, his chief press secretary, described the election as “fraudulent”, and expressed surprise that INEC went ahead to declare Oborevwori winner “despite the myriad of infractions and acts of impunity on the part of the PDP in the course of the election with incontrovertible proof”, which he stated were brought to its notice. The deputy senate president stated his resolve to challenge the result in court with a view to recovering his “stolen mandate”. The full statement reads: “A while ago, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Delta State announced Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, gubernatorial flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor-elect following the March 18 governorship election. “The declaration was made despite the myriad of infractions and acts of impunity on the part of the PDP in the course of the election. These were brought to the attention of INEC with incontrovertible proof. The March 18 election was characterised by massive fraud, unprecedented vote buying and voter suppression perpetrated by the PDP in the course of the election. “The fraudulent nature of PDP’s so-called victory is just too damning and daring for it to be acceptable in any decent society. Most of those infractions are in the public domain and known to INEC officials and the security agencies involved in superintending the election. “In the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections, the results pointed to an unequivocal rejection of the PDP. Of the three senatorial zones in the state, APC won two while PDP controversially edged out the Labour Party in the Delta North Senate race. It was an unadulterated verdict of Deltans on how they have fared under 24 years of governance of their state by PDP. “On the basis of the factors listed and more that will come later, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, governorship candidate of the APC in Delta State as well as the leadership of the party, unequivocally reject the declaration by INEC of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori of the PDP as winner of the March 18 governorship election. We will challenge this fraudulent result using all legal means. “As a democrat and Deputy President of the Senate, Omo-Agege will explore all lawful avenues to reclaim the mandate freely given to him by the good people of Delta State. To the numerous supporters of APC and the entire public that share in Omo-Agege’s vision of building a new Delta State, we urge you all to remain calm, peaceful, and law-abiding. I can assure all our teeming supporters and all Deltans that the PDP pyrrhic celebration of a stolen mandate will be short-lived. By the Grace of God and the clearly expressed wish of the people, this electoral heist will be reversed and Senator Omo-Agege will be sworn in on May 29, 2023 as the lawfully elected Governor of Delta State”.
