The petition of the Labour Party’s gubernatorial candidate, Ken Pela, challenging the outcome of the Delta state governorship election has been dismissed.
The petition was dismissed on Thursday by the state’s governorship election tribunal over failure to apply for “pre-hearing” notice”.
However, the the All Progressives Congress (APC) camp is upbeat and confident of victory at the tribunal.
The petition filed by its candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, is intact and well grounded in law and facts, not sentiment, the party said.
APC Publicity Secretary in Delta State, Mr. Valentine Onojeghuo, expressed optimism that the judiciary will do justice to Omo-Agege’s petition by recovering the mandate of the people from the custody of the “temporary placeholder” and returning it to its rightful owner.
“Already, the opposition PDP is jittery, going by the performance of our lawyers at the tribunal and you can feel the palpable tension that has engulfed them,” he said.
He also added: “Every Deltan knows that we won the governorship election but for the criminal conspiracy perpetrated against the choice of the people.”
Some members of the Labour Party said the tribunal’s judgement should be challenged at the Court of Appeal.