The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Ikie Aghwarianovwe seeking the disqualification of the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori for allegedly supplying false information about his acadmic qualification and date of birth to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a judgment on Friday, a five-member panel of the apex court, was unanimous in holding that Aghwarianovwe’s appeal failed because he failed to show that the concurrent decisions of the two lower courts were pervase.
Justice Adamu Jauro wrote the lead judgment, which was read on Friday by Justice Emmanuel Agim.
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Asaba division, delivered on 5th May 2023 which upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court, Asaba division, to the effect that Aghwarianovwe failed to prove his case and that Oborevwori was qualified to contest the last governorship election in the state.
Justice Jauro noted that none of the grounds of the appeal showed that the concurrent findings of the two lower courts were pervase.
He added,
“After a very detailed consideration of every argument of all the parties on the various issues raised, I find that no matter how the instant appeal is viewed it is bound to fail.
“There is no saving grace for it. Right from the grounds of appeal, to the prominent issue of jurisdiction and now to the merit itself, the appeal was dead on arrival, with zero chance of success.
“Flowing from the foregoing, I find no merit in the instant appeal. I dismiss same,” he said and proceeded to affirm the earlier decisions of two lower courts.
Justice Jauro awarded a cost of N6million against the appellant, to be paid at N3m each for the first and second respondents – PDP and Oborevwori.
Other members of the panel -Justices Mohammed Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Tijani Abubakar, Agim – agreed with the lead judgment.
