The Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja on Monday, reserved judgement in a petition filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, challenging the declaration of Douye Diri as the governor of the state in the November 2023 governorship election.
Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Adekunle Adeleye, announced that the judgement would be delivered within the 180 days statutorily allowed by law and added that all the parties in the petition would be notified as soon as the date for judgement is fixed by the Tribunal.
During the proceedings on Monday, the petitioners, Sylva and the APC, adopted their final written address, where they prayed the Tribunal to annul the declaration of Diri as the winner of the election.
Their lead counsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), told the Tribunal that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) embarked on the wrongful exclusion of results before arriving at the declaration of Diri as the winner.
The petitioners’ lawyer stated that the electoral body did not debunk the allegation of wrongful exclusion of results by not calling the state election result collation officer to testify.
He therefore urged the Tribunal to objectively decide the petition on the strength of the evidence adduced by the petitioners, especially because INEC did not call a single witness to challenge all the allegations.
However, Diri’s counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), informed the Tribunal that the petition by Sylva died on arrival because it was grossly deficient in quantity and quality of evidence.
He said the petition was baseless, frivolous, vexatious and grossly lacking in merit because the two petitioners did not discharge the burden placed on them by law
Among others, Uche said that Sylva predicated his petition on the alleged refusal of INEC to collate results in three local government areas—Southern Ijaw, Nembe and Ogbia—but failed to call a single collation officer to back up its claim
Besides, Uche said Sylva did not tender voter registers, BVAS machines, or Form EC8A used for the purported election in the three local government areas to establish his allegations.
The senior lawyer also said the petitioner himself, despite having a witness statement on oath, refused to give evidence before the Tribunal to substantiate his allegations and that, despite having a witness statement on oath, the petitioner refused to give evidence before the Tribunal to substantiate his allegations.
Uche pleaded with the Tribunal to discountenance the evidence of a former Police Commissioner in the state on the ground that the police officer admitted before the Tribunal that he had issues with Diri when the Prado Jeep earlier given to him was withdrawn.
Uche also urged the Tribunal not to invoke the spirit of the judgement that brought Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, into office, adding that INEC has established beyond doubt that the election did not hold in the three local governments due to resistance by some hoodlums to the use of BVAS machines.
Similarly, INEC, represented by Charles Edosomwan (SAN) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), represented by Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), canvassed for dismissal of the petition on the ground that the two petitioners failed and neglected to discharge the burden of establishing their allegations against the election beyond reasonable doubt as required by law.
They asserted that they did not call witnesses because the witnesses of petitioners killed and buried the petition while being cross-examined during the proceedings.
It would be recalled that INEC had declared Diri the winner of the Bayelsa state governorship election on the ground that he scored the majority of lawful votes cast in the poll.
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