Diri to Tribunal: Please, Don’t Repeat Judgement That Brought Uzodimma to Office

•Governor, Sylva yet to know fate as panel reserves judgement in Bayelsa guber poll

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has urged the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal not to invoke the spirit of the judgement that brought the Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma, into office.

Diri said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had established beyond doubt that election did not hold in the three local governments being contested due to resistance by some hoodlums to the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.

The tribunal, yesterday, reserved judgement in the petition filed by the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylvia, challenging the re-election of Diri as governor of Bayelsa State.

Making a case before the tribunal, 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.

Uche said the petition was baseless, frivolous and vexatious and lacking in merit because the two petitioners did not discharge the burden placed on them by law.

Among others, Uche said Sylva predicated his petition on alleged refusal of INEC to collate results in three local governments areas – Southern Ijaw, Nembe, and Ogbia – but failed to call a single collation officer to back up its claim.

Uche said Sylva did not tender the voter register, BVAS machines and form EC8A used for the purported election in the three local governments to establish 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police officer admitted before the tribunal that he had issues with Diri when the Prado Jeep earlier given to him was withdrawn.

He also urged the tribunal not to invoke the spirit of the judgement that brought Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, into office, adding that INEC has established beyond doubt that election did not hold in the three local governments due to resistance by some hoodlums to the use of BVAS machines.

INEC, represented by Charles Edosomwan, SAN, and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), represented by Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, also canvassed for dismissal of the petition by the APC candidate on the ground that the petitioners failed and neglected to discharge the burden of establishing their allegations against the election beyond reasonable doubt as required by law.

INEC and PDP alleged that they did not call witnesses because the witnesses of petitioners killed and buried the petition while being cross examined during the proceedings.

Earlier, the petitioners had prayed the tribunal to annul the declaration of Diri as the winner of the November 11, 2023 election.

Their lead counsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, told the tribunal that INEC embarked on wrongful exclusion of results before arriving at the declaration of Diri as winner.

Ikpeazu further 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.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Adekunle Adeleye, announced that the tribunal had reserved ruling shortly after parties adopted and argued their written addresses in the suit. Adeleye assured them that the panel’s verdict would be delivered within the 180 days statutorily allowed by law, adding that judgement date would be communicated as soon as it is fixed.

INEC had declared Diri winner of the November 11, 2023 governorship election in Bayelsa State, saying he won majority of the votes cast at the election.

According to the Returning Officer, Professor Faruq Kuta, the PDP and Diri polled 175, 196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Timiprey Sylva of the APC, who scored 110,108 votes.

Dissatisfied, Sylva and APC had approached the tribunal to challenge the declaration of Diri as winner of the poll.

The petitioners were asking the tribunal to hold that contrary to the position of the electoral umpire, election held in some polling units and winners declared at the said units. They added that it was wrong of INEC to disregard the results at the ward and local government levels.

Sylva and APC maintained that if the said cancelled results were restored by the court, they would emerge winner of the November election.

But the respondents, especially INEC, which conducted the election, submitted that election in the three local governments of Southern Ijaw, Ogbia and Nembe did not hold due to incidents of alleged diversions of materials and disruption of the electoral process over alleged bypass of the BVAS machine.

They had tendered the Form EC40G to confirm that there were no elections in the said polling units.

In addition, the respondents brought Certified True Copies (CTCs) of results from INEC to prove that the results brought before the court as evidence that election held at the polling units were forged by the petitioners.