The Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Monday, May 27, 2024, affirmed the election victory of Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State.
The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Adekunle Adeleye-led, dismissed the petition filed by All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, as lacking in merit.
The tribunal, in a unanimous decision, held that the petitioners failed to adduce any credible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations they raised against the outcome of the state’s governorship election.
It struck out as incompetent, all the additional proof of evidence as well as statements on oath of some of the witnesses that testified for the petitioners.
According to the tribunal, the law expressly provided that an election petition must be filed not later than 21 days after the result of an election was declared.
It held that such petition must, at the time it was filed, be accompanied by written statements of all the intended witnesses.
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The tribunal declared that the decision of Sylva and his party to file their additional proof of evidence and statement on oath of witnesses, long after they had filed the petition, was “tantamount to a surreptitious attempt to amend the case of the petitioners”.
The tribunal further dismissed the allegation that the deputy governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, tendered a forged university degree certificate and NYSC exemption certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in aid of his qualification to contest the election.
It held that the allegation was a pre-election matter that ought to be litigated before the Federal High Court, adding that the matter had become statute-barred since the petitioners failed to challenge the genuineness of the certificates, 14 days after it was submitted to INEC.
The tribunal said the issue of Ewhrudjakpo’s educational qualification was previously determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The tribunal said it took judicial notice of the fact that the 3rd respondent, Ewhrudjakpo, is a legal practitioner, noting that it was satisfied that he was qualified to contest the election.
The tribunal equally noted that though Sylva and his party prayed the panel to declare that they were the valid winners of the governorship election, they also applied for the same election to be declared invalid.
It held that the petitioners’ prayers were contradictory, adding that Sylva and APC did not tender any electoral material to show that any irregularity occurred during the election.
It added that the petitioners were unable to discharge the burden of proof that was placed on them by the law, stressing that they failed to show, polling units by polling units, the particulars of the non-compliance they alleged and how it substantially affected the outcome of the election.
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