Latimore Oghenesivbe, executive assistant on communications and orientation to Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta, says the governor’s survival of 38 lawsuits is a divine intervention.

Mr Oghenesivbe stated this while addressing journalists at a happy hour he organised to fete members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Saturday in Asaba, the Delta capital.

The celebration followed the Supreme Court verdict of Friday in Abuja that affirmed Mr Oborevwori’s victory.

He noted that the apex court knocked off unpopular candidates who were capitalising on technicalities to upturn the Oborevwori’s victory at the March 18, 2023, governorship election in Delta.

According to Mr Oghenesivbe, the governor survived 38 criminal lawsuits, from party primary to post-governorship election, making him the most fortunate and divinely anointed celebrant in the history of constitutional democracy in Nigeria.

“His political detractors fought him from all angles, pressed all manners of frivolous criminal charges, all in an attempt to stop him from becoming the governor.

“And when he eventually won the governorship election with a wide margin, Oborevwori’s traducers flooded the Courts with multifaceted lawsuits to remove him as governor, but all their efforts crashed.”

He said that in all the travails of Mr Oborevwori, God was with him and that if God exalted a man, no mere mortal could bring him down.

He said the plethora of criminal lawsuits pressed against the governor could have swept him off his feet if not for the grace of God.

He described the inner peace, wisdom and strength of character the governor exhibited throughout his ordeals in the hands of desperate politicians hell-bent on stealing the people’s mandate given to him at the polls as divine.

Mr Oghenesivbe said the nation’s judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, in all recent judgements, sent strong signals to unpopular candidates shopping for frivolous technicalities that there it would never be business as usual.

He added that in the case of Delta, it was clear that petitioners and appellants’ claims and prayers were lacking in merit as declared by the apex court and, therefore, laboured in vain to suppress the will of the good people of the state.

He said that Mr Oborevwori’s hands are clean, his personal and academic records remained unblemished, and his genuine intentions to serve the people could not be faulted.

“He truly and genuinely won the 2023 governorship election with a wide margin, winning 21 out of 25 Local Government Areas, as against his distant rival, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who won in four.

“Oborevwori campaigned from Ward to Ward, Unit to Unit, Local Government to Government, marketing his M.O.R.E Agenda to the good people of Delta.

“His opponents were busy casting aspersions, and some of them relied heavily on federal might and legal technicalities to subvert the will of the people to no avail.

“They did all manners of things to stop the move of God, and as we know it in Christendom, nobody can battle with God and win; the divine principles of ‘Touch not my anointed applies,” he said.

He said the result of the divine oil of God on Mr Oborevwori’s head played out at the Supreme Court on Friday.

“His academic records were unblemished, his personal records and strength of character cannot be faulted, his landslide victory at the polls was staggering, and above all, God was and still is, with Oborevwori.

“God touched on all the 38 criminal litigations across courts of competent jurisdictions and ended in favour of the governor and his deputy, Monday Onyeme.

“They divinely and miraculously survived 38 criminal lawsuits to stand tall and remained unbeatable as affirmed by the Apex Court,” Mr Oghenesivbe said.

He urged continued partnership with the media, adding that “constructive criticism remains ideal for good governance, as it morrows positives and negatives, necessary for nation building.

“But we must abstain from jungle journalism and dissemination of half-truth and data manipulations, upholding professional standards and principles of fairness through balanced reporting,” he said.

The chairman of NUJ, Delta Council, Churchill Oyowe, thanked the governor’s aide for deeming it necessary to fete journalists in the state as part of Mr Oborevwori’s Supreme Court victory celebration.

He said members of the union remained apolitical but noted that the victory of the governor at the polls was convincing enough to avoid the plethora of post-election litigations.

He urged politicians to help strengthen and deepen democratic values and culture by accepting defeat to avoid unnecessary wastage of scarce financial resources in post-election legal battles.

Mr Oyowe, on behalf of the state council, congratulated Mr Oborevwori on his victory while urging the governor to be magnanimous in victory by extending the olive branch to his opponents.

(NAN)