An X (formerly Twitter) user during the week insinuated that Ken Pela, the Labour Party gubernatorial candidate of Delta state had won a court case thus making him the governor of the state. The post read, “Guys we won we won. Delta is Labour party, Governor Ken Pela won the case in court. The judiciary did it. Labour party is taking over Delta state. Delta is Labour.”
The post as at the time of this fact-check had over 117,000 interactions.
Claim: Appeal court declares Labour Party’s Pela as Delta state Governor
Verification
CDD War Room in determining the veracity of the claim contacted a staff of the Appeal court in Abuja who explained that the court had not declared Pela governor.
Also, various reputable media outlets reported that the Appeal court had ordered the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Asaba to re-hear Labour Party’s governorship candidate Ken Pela‘s petition. In his petition, Pela had urged the Tribunal to cancel the election of Sheriff Oborevwori and Ovie Omo Agege who came second. The Labour party gunernatorial candidate based his plea on alleged non qualification of the first two candidates and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The Tribunal, sitting in Asaba, had in July dismissed the petition. The three-member panel of the tribunal headed by C.H Ahuchaogu, held that the petition was ‘incompetent’ and constituted a flagrant violation of the Electoral Act. CDD War Room recalls that LP candidate, Pela, came third with 48,027 votes behind Oborevwori and Omo-Agege who emerged winner and runner up respectively.
Verdict: MISLEADING
The claim that LP’s Pela has been declared governor of Delta State through a recent Appeal Court verdict is Misleading. The court only ordered the tribunal to repeat the hearing of the case, which was earlier dismissed.
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