THE Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the re-election of Governor Douye Diri, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Adekunle Adeleye, dismissed the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, for lacking in merit.
The tribunal, in its unanimous decision, on Monday, May 27, held that the petitioners failed to adduce any credible evidence to substantiate any of their allegations against the outcome of the November 11, last year election.
The tribunal struck out all the additional evidence and statements on oath of some of the petitioners’ witnesses for being incompetent, saying the petitioners failed to file their additional proof of evidence within the 21 days allowed by law.
It also held that the decision by 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 dismissed the allegation that the state Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, tendered a forged university degree and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificates to INEC, noting that the allegation was a pre-election matter that ought to be litigated before the Federal High Court.
It ruled that the matter had become statute barred, since the petitioners failed to challenge the genuineness of the certificates 14 days after they were submitted to INEC, more so as the issue of Ewhrudjakpo’s educational qualification had earlier been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The tribunal said it took judicial notice of the fact that Ewhrudjakpo is a legal practitioner and was qualified to contest the election.
The tribunal held that the petitioners sought contradictory reliefs by asking the court to declare them winners of the election, while also asking the court to nullify the same election, saying Sylva and APC did not tender any electoral material to show that the election was marred by irregularities.
It held that the petitioners were unable to discharge the burden of proof placed on them by law; hence it found no reason to set aside the results of the election announced by INEC.
“The result declared by INEC enjoys presumption of regularity and a party desirous to challenge the result must do so with convincing and credible evidence.
“Non-presentation of BVAS machines and voters register used for accreditation in the election proved fatal to the case of the petitioners.
“I hold that the onus of proof of positive assertion that valid election took place in the disputed 184 polling units in 57 wards rests on the petitioners.
“I also hold that the margin of lead principle is not applicable in this case, as the petitioners made contradictory prayers.
“The petitioners, having failed to establish all the pleaded facts, I hold that this petition failed on all the three grounds that it was predicated on.
“I hereby dismiss the petition as lacking in merit. Parties are to bear their respective costs,” said Justice Adeleye
Diri, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, was declared winner of the election on November 13, last year, having garnered 175,196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Sylva, who secured 110,108 votes.
But Sylva, a former minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and his party, challenged the outcome of the election, in a petition filed before the tribunal, alleging that INEC wrongly excluded election results from three Southern Ijaw, Ogbia and Nembe Local Councils.
Sylva submitted that contrary to INEC’s position that the election did not hold in the affected councils, APC agents supervised the election and sent results from the various polling units to the collation centre.
Describing the three councils as his strongholds, he argued that results from the areas would have given him victory in the election if they were added.
