Delta Gov’ship Poll: Gbagi petitions tribunal, wants Oborevwori, Omo-Agege, others disqualified over forgery

By Vivian Okejeme

The Delta State Governorship Candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Olorogun Gbagi, has asked the Election Petition Tribunal to disqualify the Governor-elect, Sheriff Oborevwori, over alleKennethged falsified Statutory declaration of age, amongst others, and declare him winner of the March 18 polls.
In a Certified True Copy of his petition with No. EPT/DL/Gov/2/2023 to the Election Tribunal, Gbagi claimed that Oborevwori falsified Declaration of Age/Affidavit in support of personal particulars in Form C.F. 001 (Affidavit in Support of Personal Particulars of Persons Seeking Election to the Office/Membership of State House of Assembly) Dated 24th October 2018, and Form EC9 (Affidavit in Support of Personal Particulars) Dated 30th Day of June 2022 to INEC.
He stated that the Governor-elect’s Statutory Declaration of Age/Affidavit deposed to in 2022 contains a different age contrary to what is contained in his West African Senior School Certificate (WASSC) dated June 1999 with Certificate Number 384793.
He accused Oborevwori of lying under oath that he does not have Primary School Certificate, Secondary School Certificate, and university degree, whereas, in 2018, he exhibited same with his Form C. F. 001.
He added that the suit challenging Oborevwori’s qualification to contest the Governorship Election of Delta State held on 18th day of March 2023 was filed and decided at the Federal High Court, Asaba based on forged credentials.
Gbagi posited that doing so was contrary to the principle laid down by the supreme court in Saleh v. Abah, (2017) 12 (NWLR) PT. 1578 AT P. 100.
He also claimed that the Deputy Governor-elect, Monday Onyeme, was dismissed from the employment of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) but failed to disclose the fact of his dismissal in his affidavit Form EC9 deposed to on 29th day of June 2022.
Gbagi, in the 79-page petition, also sought the disqualification of the candidates of the All Progressives Congress, Ovie Omo-Agege, Labour Party, Ken Pela and All Progressives Grand Alliance, Great Ovedje Ogboru over non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
Gbagi, informed the tribunal that the Supreme Court of the State of California in the United States of America, found Omo-Agege guilty and convicted of the offences of perjury and impersonation wherein, in a bid to secure a Driver’s License sometime in 1993.
He disclosed that the Deputy Senate President at the time, listed his date of birth as May 10th 1965, and his name as Reginald Clark Bedney on the application and was issued with the Driver’s License No. C9768216355315621 in the State of New York on the basis of the fake presentation made.
He further claimed that Omo-Agege was convicted in the United States of America for the offences of forgery, dishonesty, and multiple/pattern of misconduct, a fact which he failed to disclose in his Form EC9 despite the express demand for him to do so.
Gbagi averred in the petition that on various occasions, while in the United State of America, Omo-Agege gave inconsistent dates of birth such as August 3rd, 1963, January 20th, 1964, and December 16th, 1965, as well as inconsistent names such as, Augustine Omoagege, Agege Augustine, Omo-Agege Ovie Augustine, Reginal Clark Bedney, Christopher Agege, Ronald Shawn Byrd, and Kirk Darwin Johnson, for which he was found guilty of and convicted, as contained in the judgement of the Supreme Court of California, but failed to disclose all these in his Form EC9 filled and submitted to the 1st Respondent.
Gbagi, a former Minister of Education, in an interview with Journalists in Abuja, on Tuesday, also hinged his call for the disqualification of other Governorship candidates on the various degrees of electoral malpractice at the march 18 poll in Delta.
He listed the malpractice to include: over voting and vote buying induced by the candidates.
He said there were situations where the total number of votes recorded and allotted were more than the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collected by voters and exceeded the number of registered voters in the polling unit.
Other electoral infractions, according to him, included alteration of some results sheets which did not reflect on the duplicate copies given to party agents, mutilation of form EC8As, polling units without corresponding voting points result sheets, over and under balloting, among others.
“I am a candidate, and I am saying, we are candidates of the election, but these people who are candidates ought not to be candidates and the tribunal is the appropriate place.”
The SDP candidate, consequently in the petition urged the tribunal that the certificate of return issued by INEC to the candidate of PDP as the winner of the governorship election in Delta state be declared null, void and of no effect whatsoever.
He further urged the tribunal to withdraw the certificate of return and issue a fresh certificate to him as duly qualified and elected governor.
“For those of us, who contested, and participated, I am the only one on the list is that is qualified.
“The election has been held, marks were allocated to us, my prayer is that they were not qualified, and I should be declared as the winner of the election because I am the only qualified candidate in the first instance,” he said.
He said it was the right time to bring up the matter as records and experience showed that pre-election cases most times do not go far.
“Go back to the Electoral Act, I could not have raised an objection on issue of a candidate of a party that I am not a member.
“Every one who went to pre-election matter, none of them went any where, this is the appropriate time, to raise this issue,” he said.