Uduaghan Wins Again At Court Of Appeal

San Francisco Feb 19, (THEWILL) – Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan got his election as governor of Delta State affirmed by a Court of Appeal in Benin City on Friday evening.

Action Congress candidate in the election, Chief Peter Okocha had filed an appeal at the court seeking to oust Uduaghan as governor claiming INEC unlawfully excluded him from the April 14, 2007 governorship election. His appeal was however dismissed for lack of merit.

The Appeal Court ruled that the ruling of the electoral tribunal, which held that Chief Peter Okocha and his running mate did not submit their forms within the period specified by INEC to qualify to participate at the election, saying, "We find no merit in the appeal, we hereby dismiss it."

The unanimous judgment was read by Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen. The other judges in the panel were: Justice Hussein Muhktar, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, and Justice Chima Nweze. The judges entered the court at about 4.41 pm fueling speculations that they had not agreed on where the judgment would go. The judgment was scheduled to have been read at 9.am but the judges apologized saying that they had a short time to write the judgment.

Reacting to the Judgment, Delta State Information Commissioner, Mr. Oma Djeba said it was a "manifestation of justice and equity."