Delta South Senatorial Poll: Diden drags INEC to tribunal
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ABUJA– The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the Delta South Senatorial election, Hon. Michael Diden, has filed a petition against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The petitioners are specifically praying the tribunal to void INEC’s declaration of candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr Ewomazino Thomas Joel-Onowakpo as winner of the senatorial election.
They predicated their request on the ground that the APC candidate was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election, adding that his declaration as the Senator-elect, “was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022”.
Besides, in the petition dated March 17, the petitioners, through their team of lawyers led by Chief Ayo Asala, SAN, are further praying the tribunal for an order, “collating the results of the election conducted in Warri South Local Government Area to the lawful votes recorded in favour of the parties and declare the winner of the election based on the collation”.
It will be recalled that the Returning Officer for Delta South Senatorial Election, Prof. Anthony Peretimina, had announced the APC’s candidate, Joel-Onowakpo, polled a total of 49, 955 votes to defeat the PDP candidate who came second with a total of 47, 656 votes.
However, the petitioners alleged that the Returning Officer did not comply with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and the extant Regulations, Guidelines and Manual for Election Officials in the collation and declaration of the final results in the senatorial district.
They alleged that though election was held in all the eight Local Government Areas, LGAs, that made up the Delta South Senatorial District, INEC refused to include results from Warri South LGA in its final computation of results and proceeded to declare the APC as winner of the senatorial contest.
The petitioners claimed that the action of the electoral body, despite protest from PDP agents, amounted to a breach of the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines.
While contending that the LG Collation/Retuning Officer, had no power to cancel and/or exclude any results validly declared at the polling unit level, the petitioners told the tribunal that the decision to cancel results in Ward 06-Bowen and excluding lawful votes from the entire Warri South Local Government Area, was contrary to relevant laws guiding the conduct of the election.
More so, the Petitioners claimed that results of contestants in the 11 wards in Warri South Local Government Area based on collation from form EC8B (1), revealed that APC polled 3,057 votes; PDP – 10,610 and the other political parties – 9,357 votes.
“The Petitioners shall contend at the hearing that after the collation of the valid votes from Warri South Local Government Area which was unlawfully excluded from the computation of the final result by the 1st Respondent, the Petitioners scored a majority valid votes of 58,266 as against the 2nd Respondent’s valid votes of 53,012 and that having scored the majority of the valid and lawful votes cast at the said elections, the 1st Petitioner is the winner of the said election and duly elected and returned as the Senator representing Delta South Senatorial District in the National Assembly”.
In further faulting the return of Joel-Onowakpo, the Petitioners, while observing that the margin of lead between the two leading candidates was 2,299, argued that that the law provided that where the margin of lead between two leading candidates in an election is NOT in excess of the total number of collected Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) in polling units where elections are not held or cancelled, “the Returning Officer shall decline to make a return until polls have taken place in the affected polling units and results collated into the relevant forms for Declaration and Return”.
According to the petitioners, the total number of registered voters in Warri South LGA were INEC claimed that the total election conducted therein were cancelled and therefore not collated for the purpose of final declaration, was 187,140, while the total numbers of collected PVCs from the LGA where election did not hold and/or was cancelled, was 162,082.
They argued that from the margin of lead between the 1st Petitioner and the 2nd Respondent, which was 2,299, “it is very clear that the numbers of registered voters and/or numbers of collected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from Warri South Local Government Area exceeded the margin of lead between the 1st Petitioner and the 2nd Respondent”.
Consequently, they prayed the tribunal to declare that the 2nd Respondent was not duly elected or returned by the majority of lawful votes cast at the senatorial election.
The petitioners are equally praying the tribunal to declare that “the decision of the 1st Respondent to cancel and exclude the result of the election duly conducted in Warri South Local Government Area, being one of the eight (8) Local Government Areas making up Delta South Senatorial District, is wrongful and constitute substantial non-compliance with the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022”.
“An order of this Honourable Court collating the results of the election conducted in Warri South Local Government Area to the lawful votes recorded in favour of the parties and declare the winner of the election based on the collation”.
As well as, “An order declaring as duly elected and returned the 1st Petitioner, Diden Michael as the Senator representing Delta South Senatorial District having scored the majority of lawful votes cast at the said election held on February 25, 2023”.
In the alternative, they urged the tribunal to declare the election as inconclusive and order for a supplementary election to be held in Warri South LGA, where election did not hold and/or cancelled.
SOURCE:VANGUARD
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