The legal battle between two close friends who have lived as Urhobo brothers for decades, Hon Solomon Ahwinahwi and Olorogun Taleb Tebite, over who is the authentic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for Ughelli North, Ughelli South and Udu Federal Constituency in Delta State, for the 2023 general elections came to an end on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
In ruling in favour of Ahwinahwi on the appeal brought before it by Tebite, a Supreme Court panel led by Inyang Okoro asked that the suit be withdrawn for bad presentation which was compounded by the absence of Tebite’s lead counsel, Chief Efe Akpofure, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Recall that the Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, the Delta State on Monday declared Tebite as the candidate of the PDP for Ughelli-Udu Federal Constituency in the 2023 general elections arising from the outcome of the party’s primary for the federal constituency held on May 22, 2022, in which Tebite was declared the winner with 34 votes.
Ahwinahwi who was announced the winner in the re-run primary conducted on Monday, May 30, 2022, later got the lower court judgment upturned by the Court of Appeal prompting Tebite to head to the Supreme Court.
Unlike the wide jubilation and excitement that greeted Tebite’s victory at the Federal High Court amongst PDP faithful across the Ughelli-Udu Federal Constituency and beyond that of Ahwinahwi on Wednesday at the Apex Court NewsNet Nigeria gathered was hardly celebrated.
Even a staunch member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Delta State who spoke with NewsNet Nigeria on condition of anonymity expressed regret that the leadership of the PDP in the state paved the way for Ahwinahwi to emerge as the party’s candidate.
He said, “Most of us despite being members of APC would have worked for Olorogun Taleb Tebite to win the election for Ughelli North, Ughelli South and Udu Federal Constituency if he was the PDP candidate against our party’s flagbearer.”
In his reaction on Wednesday few hours after the Supreme Court ruling, Olorogun Taleb Tebite wrote below:
A THANK YOU NOTE
We thank God thus far for all He has done for me, my Wife, Children, Family, Those who stood for/by me but I can’t call their names here but my God sees them and my teeming supporters across our Federal Constituency and indeed by extention Deltans and Nigerians at large…
Please let me use this opportunity to call on the entire TAKEOVER Team and indeed the good people of Ughelli/Udu Federal Constituency to remain calm, peaceful, and to decline to react to any form of provocation that may arise from the Supreme Court withdrawal order of our case. It has been a long struggle to get to this point in our sustained and vigorous efforts toward giving our people of Ughelli/Udu Federal Constituency quality representation they truly deserve but which regrettably came to a conclusion today at the Supreme Court.
I salute and thank you all for your support, hard-work and perseverance. Let us then stand together as a team as an enlarged meeting of the group will be held where the decision of our next action will be made. Do not trade blames. It won’t lead to any good destination. It is also no time for mourning. After all, we all fought gallantly together.
Our best is yet to come. So, let us face the future with pride, confidence and dignity. As long as God gives us breath, we must keep as our enduring vision alive.
Thank you, once again.
God bless you all.
Hon Olorogun Taleb Tebite JP
