Bayelsa Gov Election Petition: Tribunal reserves judgement

The Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, has reserved its judgement on the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its defeated candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva.

The Justice Adekunle Adeleye-led three-member tribunal okayed the matter for judgement after all the parties adopted their final addresses.

While the petitioners, through their lead counsel, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, prayed the tribunal to invalidate the Certificate of Return that was issued to Governor Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, all the respondents urged the panel to dismiss the petition for lack of merit.

Ironically, Dr. Ikpeazu, SAN, maintained that it was wrongful exclusion of results by INEC that led to the emergence of Diri as the winner of the November 11, 2023 gubernatorial poll.

But Governor Diri of the PDP while adopting his final address through his lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, argued that the petitioners failed to establish why the outcome of the election should be voided.

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He described the petition as baseless, frivolous, vexatious and grossly lacking in merit, insisting that the petitioners were unable to discharge the burden of proof that was placed on them by the law.

Besides, Uche, SAN, noted that both Sylva and the APC did not call any collation officer who participated in the election to prove their allegation that some results were excluded during the collation process.

He further drew the attention of the tribunal to the fact that the petitioners did not tender the Voters Register, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines, or INEC forms EC8A that were used in the conduct of the election, to establish their case.

According to Uche, SAN, though the petitioner himself, Sylva, desposed to a witness statement on oath, he, however, refused to give evidence before the tribunal to substantiate his allegations.

Uche equally urged the tribunal to discountenance the evidence of a former Police Commissioner in the State who appeared as a witness in the matter.

He argued that the police officer had in his testimony before the tribunal, admitted that he previously had issues with Governor Diri over a Prado Jeep that was retrieved from him.

Similarly, INEC, represented by Chief Charles Edosomwan, SAN, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, represented by Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, also urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition.

After it had listened to all the lawyers, the tribunal Chairman announced that the judgement date would be communicated to the parties.

It will be recalled that INEC had declared that Governor Diri of the PDP garnered a total of 175, 196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Sylva of the APC who polled 110, 108 votes.