By Hamilton Nwosa(Head, The New Diplomat business and data tracking desk)
Concerns are mounting in Bayelsa State as the judgment on a pending suit over the disputed governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) that produced Governor Douye Diri as governor of Bayelsa State comes up tomorrow at the Federal High Court, Owerri for judgment.
In the suit filed by for former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) Timi Alaibe, the later is challenging the eligibility, validity and legality of Senator Diri’s emergence as flagbearer of the PDP. Alaibe is not only challenging the legality, constitutionality, and appropriateness of the entire exercise that produced Diri but he is also calling for an outright voiding of Diri’s candidature on grounds that it was illegally, inappropriately and ineligibly procured.
Alaibe is also urging the court to declare him(Alaibe winner) because he complied with the eligibility and legal requirements known to law and the party guidelines for emergence of governorship candidates, posits that Diri, on the contrary, violated those provisions known to Law and the party guidelines.
Alaibe is said to anchor a major plank of his submission on grounds that the PDP consequently committed electoral, and constitutional illegality by blatantly allowing local government chairmen, councilors , and all shades of ineligible persons to vote during the PDP governorship primaries in sharp contrast, and utter violation of the party’s guidelines which do not permit elected chairmen and councilors elected within 90 days to the election, to vote during governorship primaries.
Recall that the Supreme Court had recently declared PDP as winner of the Bayelsa State governorship polls, which had Diri as its candidate in the November 16 governorship election. The Supreme court’s decision had invalidated Chief David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) election who was earlier declared as the winner and governor-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the Bayelsa State governorship elections.
Chief Alaibe who came second in the disputed PDP primaries that produced Diri as PDP candidate is generally perceived as a strong, authentic and solid material that may have been shortchanged by political racketeering allegedly engineered by former governor Seriake Dickson.
Alaibe is said to predicate his case on grounds that PDP committed electoral, and constitutional illegality by blatantly allowing local government chairmen, councilors, and all shades of ineligible persons to vote during the PDP primaries in sharp contrast, and utter violation of the party’s guidelines which do not permit elected chairmen and councilors elected within 90 days to the election, to vote during governorship primaries.
Recall that Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, who was at that material time in question serving in acting capacity, had approved Chief Alaibe’s request for a transfer of his suit against Diri to Abuja for a variety of reasons.
Consequently, the presiding judge of the Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Justice Jane Inyang, had acceded to the directive of Justice Muhammad based on Alaibe’s request. Inyang had noted that Alaibe’s request was predicated on “security concern in the state. ”
Recall also that Senator Diri who was backed by Dickson, had won the primary election. Diri scored 561 votes to beat Alaibe who polled 365 votes to come second position.
In a swift reaction then, Chief Alaibe’s campaign organization had described the process that threw up Diri as “flawed”, “manipulated” and that the people’s choice as reflected in the actual legal process was Alaibe, who was “brazenly robbed of victory”.
Alaibe and his team then proceeded to file a suit at the Federal High Court, Yenogoa, seeking, among other things the outright cancellation of the results of the PDP primaries that produced Diri because it is illegal, a violation of all known electoral laws, party guidelines and INEC were among the defendants in the suit.
In the originating suit filed pursuant to Order 3(9) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019, Alaibe is seeking to void Diri’s emergence as PDP candidate because it amounts to a clear breach of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act 2010, the PDP Constitution, and the relevant Election Guidelines.
Alaibe submits that going by the conduct of the Bayelsa State chapter of the PDP in the whole gamut of the Ward Congresses with its inclusion of local government council officials in the delegates list, and the process for the inclusion of three ad-hoc delegates, the entire primaries that produced Diri amounts to an illegality, and should therefore be voided.
