DANIEL EFE
Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa has called on Deltans to be more united following the re-affirmation of his victory at the polls by the Supreme Court which declared him as the duly elected Governor of Delta State.
The governor
made the call on Wednesday evening at a thanksgiving service held at the
Government House Chaplaincy, Asaba to celebrate the Supreme Court verdict.
“I want
to thank Deltans for all your prayers and support and as we move forward, it is
time to work for the good of the state; I cannot do it alone; as a government
we require the cooperation of all; it is time for us to partner together; it is
time to forget the bitterness.
“I will
use this opportunity to call on my opponent, Chief Great Ogboru for him to
realize that it is time for him to work together with the state government to
build our state; I believe that truly everyone can make his contributions and
impact whether he is in office or not as it is truly time for us to be united
as it is in the best interest of the state to work together and continue to
pray for God’s strength to move this state forward.
“God
took us through the elections, through the tribunal, Appeal Court and now, the
Supreme Court and in each of the victories, we have always returned thanks to
God because He alone has made it possible; we trusted in God and He has seen us
through and today we have victory.
“This
victory is dedicated to God because God willed it to be, to settle the state
and to ensure that there is peace; to bring oneness among us because without
peace and without oneness we cannot move forward as a people.”
Governor
Okowa who attended the thanksgiving with his wife, Dame Edith, his Deputy,
Barr. Kingsley Otuaro and other top government functionaries said.
He used the
occasion to speak on 2023 elections saying, “I know that 2023 is not so
far but, it is also not too near, so, there is a time for everything and now,
it is truly time as a government to work for the people; when the time to play
politics comes we will play politics.”
“For
those of us in government, I want to plead that the best thing for us to do now
is to work. There will be room to play the politics and by His grace when the
time comes, everything will work out smoothly; no one can make a Governor; only
God can decide who becomes Governor; so, now we have to work together to
achieve a Stronger Delta as we need to spend the next few years working for the
people of Delta State.”
Chaplain of
Government House Chaplaincy, Venerable Charles Osemenem in his sermon, said,
God works in miraculous ways, further asserting that, “many a time when
you see results, you forget that there was a battle over which God gave you
victory; we thank God because this victory is a sign of what He will do in
Delta State.”
The Supreme
Court had earlier today, reaffirmed the March 9, 2019, election victory of
Delta State Governor, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa.
In a
unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Centus Nweze, the court held that the
appellant, Mr Great Ogboru of All Progressives Congress (APC) failed to prove
his allegations of over-voting at the polls.
The
judgement which was concurred to by six other justices of the court, held that
the appeal lacked merit and that the court was putting a final nail on the
appealant’s forensic Golgotha.
Nweze said
that the appeal was a waste of the precious time of the apex court.
He noted
that majority of the documents tendered by the appellants were based on
hearsay, adding that the petition was a sheer waste of the genuine time of the
court.
“There
are plethora of decisions of this court on the position of card readers and
they are too numerous to begin to mention them or for the appellant to claim
they are not in the know.
“The appeal was against the valid election of Governor Okowa and it is hereby dismissed for lack of merit,” he declared.
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The Supreme Court also dismissed appeals brought against Governors Okezie Ikpeazu, Darius Ishaku and Abubakar Bello of Abia, Taraba and Niger States, respectively.