On Saturday the Bayesla State Governorship Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja held that Douye Diri and Lawrence Ewhruojakpo were validly elected as Governor and Deputy Governor of the State, respectively.
The tribunal reached its decision after holding that they were eminently qualified to contest the Bayelsa State Governorship election.
In the final analysis, the dismissed the three petitions challenging the election of Governor Diri and Ewhirudjakpo for lacking in merit.
Reacting to the judgment, Deputy Governor Ewhirudjakpo hailed the judiciary for standing on the path of justice.
Ewhirudjakpo who described the judgment as a vindication of the wishes and desires of the people of Bayesla State as expressed in the election extended an olive branch to his political opponents to join hands together to build the State.
According to him, ‘we are all winners and the victory belongs to us all.’
The dismissed petitions were filed by the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Onwei Tongo, Ibiene Stephen of the United Peoples Congress (UPC) and Vijah Opuama of the Liberation Movement Party.
The three petitioners anchored their case on the grounds that the governor and his deputy lacked the requisite statutory qualifications to have contested in the disputed election that brought them into office
But in a unanimous judgment on Saturday, the three-member tribunal headed by Justice Ibrahim Sirajo dismissed their petitions for lacking in merit.
Delivering judgment in the petition filed by Tongo, the tribunal held that the petitioner failed to prove the allegation of certificate falsification against the Ewhrudjakpo beyond reasonable doubt.
The judgement read by Justice Sikiru Owodunni, upheld the objections by the Diri, Ewhrudjakpo, and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in holding that the petition lacked merit and constituted ‘unnecessary waste of time of the court.’
The AD had contended that Ewhrudjakpo altered the name on his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2019 Governorship Election.
In the case of the United Peoples Congress, the tribunal while dismissing same held that the petition which raised some pre-election issues was filed outside the statutory period required by law and therefore statute barred.
Justice Yinusa Musa, who delivered the judgment of the tribunal, noted that ‘the petition is statute barred, having not been filed within the statutory period as required by section 285 (9) of the 1999 constitution (4th alteration)’ and, therefore, the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain the petition.
On the alleged non-qualification of the respondents to contest the election, Justice Musa held: ‘None of the witnesses called by the petitioner prove the non-qualification of the 2nd and 3rd respondents.’
On the issue of alleged alteration on the National Youth Service (NYSC) exemption certificate of the deputy governor, the tribunal said that ‘the NYSC certificate is not a requirement to contest any election.’
On the grounds of alleged forgery of academic credentials, the tribunal held that ‘allegations of forgery is criminal in nature and must be proved beyond reasonable doubts and the petitioner has failed to discharge this burden.
‘The petitioner who made the allegations has failed to prove as required by law and the evidence of all the witnesses he called were neither here nor there.
‘The petition lacked merit and is hereby dismissed with a cost of N200,0000 is awarded in favour of each of the respondents,’ Justice Musa held.
The petition filed by Opuama, equally suffered the same date as it was roundly dismissed for lacking in merit.
The Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ibrahim Sirajo who delivered the judgment held that some grounds of the petition bordered substantially on pre-election issues which cannot be adjudicated upon by the tribunal on account of jurisdiction.
Specifically, Justice Sirajo held that ‘grounds 1 and 2 of the petition falls squally within the ambit of pre-election matters and the venue for ventilating them shall be the Federal High Court and the High Court of the State.
‘The tribunal has not been mentioned as a forum to entertain pre-election matters.
Although the tribunal held that the petition is dully clothed with the locus standi to file the petition, he failed to prove the allegations contained therein.
For instance, Justice Sirajo held that he failed the call relevant authorities including the Rivers State University of Science and Technology and the National Youth Service to give evidence as to the authenticity or otherwise of the Degree and NYSC exemption certificate of the Deputy Governor.
‘There is no evidence before the tribunal to support the allegations. In proving the case of forgery, the body or issuing authorities has the exclusive power to prove allegations of forgery.
‘The refusal of the petitioner to call those relevant bodies to give evidence was fatal to his case.
‘On the whole, the petition lacks merit and is hereby dismissed. The 3rd and 4th respondents were validly elected by majority votes as the governor and deputy governor of Bayesla State.’
Source: The Sun
