By Eseoghene Emuke
The Court of Appeal, Benin, Edo State on Saturday upheld the election of the Deputy Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Ochor Ochor, as the winner of the House of Assembly election in Ukwuani Constituency into Delta Assembly.
Ochor won the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a judgement delivered by the head of the appeal panel, Justice Haruna Tsammani struck out the petition filled by the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the ground that its candidate, Mr David Ochonogor did not participate in the election.
Tsammani ruled that APC, failed to nominate the appellant, Ochonogor at the time of the election, but Mr. Eze Omolu.
The court held that the appellant did not win primary within the time allowed to nominate candidate and that his party (APC) failed to nominate him as their candidate in line with the electoral guideline.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker, Ochor has dedicated his victory at the appellate court to the people of his Ukwuani constituency.
In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Enebeli, the lawmaker stated that the appeal court decision was a victory of the gallant people of Ukwuani Constituency who overwhelmingly gave him their mandate to represent the people of the area.
Ochor stated further that with the legal battles relating to the election over, he would now be focus in giving the people of the area quality representation that will attract massive infrastructural development to the area.
“Today’s Appeal court ruling in my favour is a great victory, it showed that the people of Ukwuani spoke in March 2019, when they voted for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and elected me as the best choice for Ukwuani State constituency.”
“I thank God, as the court has exonerated me, and removed the stress which had been a big burden on just not me, but also the entire people of Ukwuani State Constituency.
“It could be recalled that this is the fourth victory in this election matter, and this is the second victory in the Appeal Court decision in my favour. I give God the Glory, as He had stood firmly behind me, and the people of Ukwuani.
“With this victory, I promise to focus on the main job of effective representation, and I call on the entire people of Ukwuani to be patient as they will not regret electing me, and PDP into the Delta State House of Assembly to represent them”, the statement added.
