By Emma Amaize

WARRI—GOVERNORSHIP Candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in the last governorship Election in Delta State, Comrade Emmanuel Igbini, has said that yesterday’s dismissal by the Retrial Election Tribunal sitting in Asaba of the petition filed against the election of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan by the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) governorship candidate, Chief Great Ogboru, did not come to him as a surprise.

“The ruling of the Governorship Election Tribunal today (yesterday) in Asaba did not come to me as a surprise.

The tribunal ruled as expected because the petitioner needed to legally prove his allegations beyond reasonable doubt that indeed elections did not take place in the 25 local government areas of the state contrary to compliance requirements as stipulated in relevant sections of the Electoral Act 2006.

“This judgement is not a departure from Supreme Court ruling on the election petitions instituted by General Buhari and Alhaji Atiku against the declaration of Alhaji Umar
Yar Adua as president, despite the fact that even President Yar Adua’s public admittance that the presidential elections were grossly flawed.

“The legal burden of proof imposed on petitioners by our national laws and electoral Act 2006 is the greatest obstacle to our nation’s quest for free, fair and credible general elections.

I am, therefore, tempted to agree with the judgement of the tribunal that Chief Ogboru did not legally prove his case beyond reasonable doubt, even though the tribunal members know for sure that indeed INEC did not conduct any credible election in Delta State or anywhere in Nigeria for that matter in April 2007.