Delta Poll: Omo-Agege rejects INEC’s declaration of Oborevwori as Governor-Elect

2023 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has rejected INEC’s declaration of the PDP’s governorship candidate, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori as the winner of Saturday’s election.

INEC had earlier today declared Oborevwori as governor-elect having polled a total of 360,234 votes while Omo-Agege who is the current Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, trailed with a score of 240,229 votes.

In a swift response to the announcement, Omo-Agege described activities leading to the declaration as fraudulent, rejecting the entire process.

The statement conveying the reaction of APC governorship candidate as signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sunny Areh, is reproduced below.

“A while ago, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Delta State announced Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, gubernatorial flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor-elect following the March 18 governorship election.

The declaration was made despite the myriad of infractions and acts of impunity on the part of the PDP in the course of the election. These were brought to the attention of INEC with incontrovertible proof.

The March 18 election was characterized by massive fraud, unprecedented vote buying and voter suppression perpetrated by the PDP in the course of the election.

The fraudulent nature of PDP’s so-called victory are just too damning and daring for it to be acceptable in any decent society. Most of those infractions are on the public domain and known to INEC officials and the security agencies involved in superintending the election.

In the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections, the results pointed to an unequivocal rejection of the PDP. Of the three senatorial zones in the state, APC won two while PDP controversially edged out the Labour Party in the Delta North Senate race.

It was an unadulterated verdict of Deltans on how they have fared under 24 years of governance of their state by PDP.

*On the basis of the factors listed and more that will come later, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, governorship candidate of the APC in Delta State as well as the leadership of the party, unequivocally reject the declaration by INEC of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori of the PDP as winner of the March 18 governorship election.*

We will challenge this fraudulent result using all legal means.

As a democrat and Deputy President of the Senate, Omo-Agege will explore all lawful avenues to reclaim the mandate freely given to him by the good people of Delta State.

To the numerous supporters of APC and the entire public that share in Omo-Agege’s vision of building a new Delta State, we urge you all to remain calm, peaceful and law abiding.

I can assure all our teeming supporters and all Deltans that the PDP pyrrhic celebration of a stolen mandate will be short-lived.

By the grace of God and the clearly expressed wish of the people, this electoral heist will be reversed and Senator Omo-Agege will be sworn in on May 29, 2023 as the lawfully elected Governor of Delta State.