Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Delta state, Olorogun Kingsley Esiso, has said that he is not aware that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has issued the Governorship Nomination Form EC 13B to Olorogun David Edevbie.
Supporters of Edevbie who took to Facebook on Wednesday to disclose that Edevbie has filled the said form and to be submitted soon, also congratulated him, saying he is the party’s authentic candidate.
But, Esiso who spoke to Oasis Magazine in a telephone conversation stressed that he was not aware of any such development.
Asked what his reaction was to a group in the state that gave the PDP 48 hours to declare who the party’s governorship is in the state, he said he was not also aware of the ultimatum, but said on Saturday during the planned Mega Rally of the party scheduled to hold at Ozoro, he will officially announce to Deltans the party’s governorship candidate.
Meanwhile, Oasis Magazine also spoke to Edevbie.
The young politician who declined making any comment when asked to confirm if he has been given the form by INEC to fill that acknowledged him as the party’s candidate in the state, simply said: “I think you should wait for INEC’s official announcement.”
There has been anxiety within the PDP over the replacement of the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, (DTHA), Sheriff Oborevwori, as candidate for the 2023 governorship election in the state.
lNEC is said to have been served with the order of the court that disqualified the speaker.
The order, which was received at the INEC headquarters on Thursday, was signed by the registrar of the court, Blessing Chibuzor-Ugwu and endorsed by Justice Taiwo Taiwo.
The order 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)”, it read.
It will be recalled that the high court had in a judgement it delivered on July 7, held that Oborevwori lacked the legal competence to participate in the governorship election.
Oborevwori 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.
He was alleged to have used the names Oborevwori Sheriff and Francis Orohwedor interchangeably in the certificates he submitted to INEC in aid of his qualification
Edevbie had in his suit, maintained that the defendant, Oborevwori, was not validly nominated by his party.
He told the court that PDP violated both its constitution and the electoral guidelines, during its state congress that produced Oborevwori as its flagbearer for the forthcoming gubernatorial election.
Consequently, he prayed the court to restrain the party from forwarding Oborevwori’s name to INEC and to also restrain the electoral body from receiving or recognising him as the duly nominated candidate of the party for the election.
More so, the plaintiff, sought an order to restrain Oborevwori from parading or carrying himself as the governorship candidate of the PDP in the state. Also cited as defendants in the matter were the PDP and INEC.
In his judgement, Justice Taiwo held that the suit was meritorious and accordingly granted the reliefs against Oborevwori.
The court held that evidence before it confirmed that the defendant supplied false and forged documents to the INEC in aid of his qualification for the governorship election.
It directed INEC to recognize the plaintiff as candidate of the PDP for the governorship election.
