- Says Judgement Is Victory For The Rule Of Law
By Gbenga Abulude (Politics and General Desk)
The Abuja Court of Appeal, on Friday annulled the judgment of the Governorship Election Tribunal which sacked Mr Douye Diri as Governor of Bayelsa State.
The five-man panel of the court in a unanimous judgment, said the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP) failed to show that it had a valid candidate that was unlawfully excluded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The court berated the tribunal for ignoring the fact that the petition of ANDP was status barred in addition to the fact that the party presented an unqualified candidate to INEC in the November 16, 2019 Governorship election in Bayelsa State.
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The Appellate Court proceeded to set aside the August 17 majority judgment of the tribunal, which had sacked Diri, and affirmed his return as the winner of the governorship election.
Recall that the Bayelsa State Gubernatorial Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja composed of a three-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Sirajo, on Aug 17, had annulled the election that produced Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election in the state within 90 days.
The election was annulled based on a petition by the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party, (ANDP) which argued that it was unlawfully excluded from participating in the election alongside its candidate, Mr. King George.
But in a twist, the ANDP dissociated itself from the petition and the Justice Mohammed Sirajo led tribunal judgment that put palpable tension on the people and government of Bayelsa.
The ANDP State Secretary, Pastor Sapara-Obi Endukakpo and two other party officials in a media brief three days after the tribunal judgement, stated that the ANDP was never a party to the petition filed before the tribunal.
According to him, ANDP could not, therefore, have dragged INEC before the tribunal to complain about the alleged unlawful exclusion of the party’s candidate from the election.
This was after INEC had come out to challenge the tribunal judgement, claiming that at no time did the party field a valid deputy governorship candidate for the November 2019 election.
The party State secretary at the press conference said, “As at the time of the said elections, the party was still in its formative stage and yet to create structures necessary to run a successful campaign.
“Consequently, the party at the state level, in consultation with the National Executive, in its wisdom, opted to endorse the candidate whose vision and manifesto best mirrored the aspirations of the ANDP for a greater Bayelsa State.
“In that consideration, we met and agreed to support the candidature of His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, of the Peoples Democratic Party. This decision, the ANDP officially communicated to Diri, in a letter dated November 4, 2019 and also went on to publishe same in some national dailies.
“Thus the judgment of the election petition tribunal sacking the Bayelsa governor is a surprise to the party.”
Governor Diri who was hopeful of a favourable judgement had calmed the tension in the state among party faithful, and had gone ahead to appeal the judgement.
Diri who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last guber poll in the state, was sworn in as governor after the Supreme Court sacked Mr. David Lyon as governor-elect of the All Progressives Congress less than 24 hours to his inauguration.
Meanwhile, the PDP, on Friday, applauded the judgment of the Court of Appeal which affirmed the election of Governor Diri of Bayelsa.
The party, in a statement issued by Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, its National Publicity Secretary, in Abuja, described the judgment as victory for the rule of law in Nigeria.
He stated: “The celebration that erupted in the state at the breaking of the news of the verdict is not only a testimony that indeed justice was upheld but also that Diri is indeed the choice of the people.”
“Our party, therefore, urges Diri not to relent but continue in his commitment toward the good of all, in line with the manifesto of the PDP.
He also congratulated the people of Bayelsa for Diri’s victory at the Court of Appeal.
