Posts falsely claim new winner declared in Nigeria’s 2023 Delta state governor poll

"BREAKING: Court Of Appeal Declares Labour Party Governorship Candidate, Ken Pela As Winner Of The Delta State Guber Election (sic)," reads a Facebook post published on August 31, 2023.

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A screenshot showing the false post, taken on September 5, 2023

It has gathered over 1,000 likes and more than 500 shares.

The post was published by an account named "Hichief Sunny Odogwu", which regularly shares content supporting the LP.

It includes a 6-minute video with pictures of several LP candidates, who partook in elections held on February 25 and March 18. They include unsuccessful presidential hopeful Peter Obi and Pela, who vied for the governorship of Delta state.

Sheriff Oborevwori of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) was declared the winner of the Delta poll (archived here).

Pela came third with 48,027 votes, while Oborevwori received 360,234 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Ovie Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 240,229.

Dissatisfied with the outcome, Pela and the LP filed a petition challenging the result on the grounds of non-qualification of the winner and runner-up, corrupt practices and non-compliance with the electoral act.

He asked the tribunal to designate him the victor or re-run the ballot.

The video in the misleading post features a narrator speaking pidgin English, a simplified form of English spoken in large parts of Nigeria.

"Finally the governor of Delta state has been sacked by the appeal court... The revolution we are looking for is here, the new Nigeria is here," he says.

He also predicts that Obi would be declared winner by the courts hearing presidential election disputes.

Some users described the alleged news as a positive development, while others called it a lie.

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A screenshot showing comments on the video, taken on September 5, 2023

Retrial of petition

On July 6, 2023, an election court dismissed the LP petition challenging Oborevwori’s election win (archived here).

Dissatisfied with this judgement, Pela and his party approached the appeals court, which on August 31, 2023, granted them the right to return their petition to the election court (archived here).

As of publication date, no decision has yet been made.