Posted by Three senators from Delta and one member of the House of Representatives have had their victory upheld by the Court of Appeal.
The senators are Francis Waive of the Udu/Ughelli North/South federal constituency, and Prince Ned Nwoko, Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, and Ede Dafinone, respectively, of the Delta North, South, and Central senatorial districts.
Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Courts of Appeal, Asaba Division, delivered the ruling on the winners of the Delta National Assembly elections on February 25, 2023. He declared that the previous tribunal’s ruling was overturned and said that Thomas’s five appeals were meritorious.
Following that, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Michael Diden, also known as Ejele, were given a N250,000 compensation by the court.
In a related incident, Prince Ned Nwoko of the PDP was proclaimed the official victor of the Delta North senatorial election by the Court of Appeal, Lagos, which upheld the tribunal’s decision.
The All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Peter Nwaoboshi and the Labour Party’s Ken Kanma had their appeals denied by a Lagos-based court for lack of merit.
In September, the National Assembly elections petitions tribunal in Asaba, Delta State, declared that Nwoko had won the election on February 25 by a wide margin.
Additionally, the Court of Appeal in Lagos maintained Senator Dafinone’s election victory over Chief Igboyota Amori, the PDP candidate.
In a related development, the court on Wednesday overturned the decision of the tribunal that had earlier declared the election of Rev. Francis Waive, the representative for the Udu/Ughelli North/South federal constituency, to be void in a lawsuit filed by Solomon Awhinawhi, the PDP candidate.
Waive’s educational credentials were legally submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but the commission neglected to publicize them, therefore the lower court determined that Waive was unable to run in the general elections of 2023.
Waive, an APC member, appealed the tribunal’s decision, claiming that he provided INEC with all required paperwork, that it was not his responsibility that his qualifications were not published on the INEC website, and that there is no legal basis for the annulment of an election.
The appellate court denied the cross-appeal submitted by Waive’s opponent, Solomon Awhinawhi of the PDP, and affirmed Waive’s appeal in a majority decision.
The court ordered N500,000 in costs to Awhinawhi, PDP, and INEC in addition to granting all of Waive’s requested remedies.
The court determined that there was insufficient evidence to support Waive’s disqualification due to INEC’s failure to publish his qualifications and that he had not faked or falsified any documents.
Waive received the most legitimate votes cast in the constituency, according to the court, which also upheld his victory in the polls.