ASABA—Chief Great Ogboru, governorship candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party, (DPP) has accused his opponent of being desperate to stay in office.

Reacting to the ruling of a Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State, ruling, which held that he (Ogboru) was not validly nominated for the poll by his party, Ogboru told Vanguard in a telephone interview  that “my opponent is too desperate. He has seen the handwriting on the wall and has introduced all these distractions to postpone the matter.

“His actions are pitiable.”

Ogboru, who said he will challenge the judgment, said: “I must say that my opponent has every right to pursue his affairs as he deems fit. However, the issue at stake is a pre-election matter dating back to 2007. Since then, we have been to tribunal innumerable times. Why was my nomination not an issue all that time?

“He brought this matter to the tribunal. But when he was not making headway, he abandoned it at the tribunal and went to the High Court.”

According to him, the High Court approach was part of the campaign to confuse issues involved in the election.
Ogboru said: “We had at all times maintained that election did not hold in some places. Or there were  rigging and other violations. Our case is that simple and we are at the tribunal proving it.

“We will definitely appeal the matter. Meanwhile, we had obtained a stay of execution of the judgment and the case went on at the tribunal.”

All the issues are at the tribunal. I am willing to meet my opponent at the tribunal or in whichever legal recourse he adopts.

“What is at stake is the will of hundreds of thousands of people who have voted for our party and me. We will not disappoint them by abandoning this case. They had suffered too many disappointments. We will not add to their disappointments. We cannot turn our back on their will.

“I appeal to our supporters to be calm while the tribunal does it work. There may be plans to instigate you, but remember we have been clamouring for peaceful change. Do not let anyone confuse you or cause you to resort to illegal means to validate the mandate,” he added.