UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDS BAYELSA GOV AS SUPREME COURT SACKS APC LYON
- Governor-elect sacked for deputy’s
forged certificates
- PDP candidate didn’t score
25% of lawful votes – Oshiomhole
- INEC to study judgment,
awaits commission lawyers’ advice
John
Alechenu, John Ameh, Friday Olokor, Ade Adesomoju, Success Nwogu, Oladimeji
Ramon, Daniels Igoni and Armstrong Bakam
The
Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress governorship candidate David
Lyon’s hope of assumption of office on Friday (today) as the fifth
governor of the state was on Thursday dashed by a judgment of the Supreme
Court.
The APC
and the Peoples Democratic Party were shocked by the judgment, which created
uncertainty in Bayelsa State as both parties disagreed on its interpretation.
In the Supreme Court, there were signs that both parties did
not expect any surprise as only a handful of their supporters were in the
scanty courtroom when the case was heard and judgment later delivered.
The court
nullified the election of Lyon and his running mate, Biobarakuma
Degi-Eremienyo, who were declared by the Independent National Electoral
Commission as winners of the November 16, 2019 governorship election in the
state.
The
judgment was delivered by a five-man panel of the apex court led by Justice
Mary Peter-Odili.
The
panel, in its unanimous judgment, ordered the candidates of the party with the next
highest votes and the required constitutional spread of votes in the results of
the governorship election declared by INEC to be sworn in as their
replacements.
In what
appeared to be a twist of fate, as the apex court was delivering the judgment,
Lyon was rounding off preparations for his inauguration.
As part
of the preparations, the ex-governor-elect did a rehearsal at the Samson Siasia
Stadium, where he was driven round the main field in a motorcade on Thursday.
Also, the
outgoing Governor of the state, Henry Dickson, a PDP member, had already
concluded arrangements to meet with Lyon very early on Friday (today) with a
view to handing over official documents to him at the state Government House.
Dickson
about to hold valedictory meeting on Thursday
A
statement by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr Fidelis Soriwei, stated that Dickson
was preparing to preside over a valedictory meeting of the state executive
council when the news about the Supreme Court ruling filtered in.
At
exactly 1:15pm on Thursday, the Supreme Court in its judgment in Abuja
put paid to the preparations when it nullified the candidacy of Lyon’s
deputy, Degi-Eremienyo, on the grounds that he presented false
information about his educational qualifications in his Form CF001 submitted to
INEC as a candidate for the 2019 election.
Lyon at a rehearsal for his aborted swearing-in as
governor, earlier scheduled to hold today in Yenagoa…on Thursday. Photo:
Daniels Igoni
Justice
Ejembi Eko, who read the judgment, noted that the claims” by Degi-Eremienyo
appeared to be “fraudulent”, pointing out to “several names he uses variously
chameleonically to suit the changing environment.”
He ruled
that Degi-Eremienyo’s disqualification on the basis of submitting false
information to INEC had infected the joint ticket with which he and Lyon
contested the election and emerged victorious.
He said,
“In sum total, the joint ticket of the first and second respondents (Lyon and
Degi-Eremienyo) sponsored by the 3rd respondent, APC, was vitiated by the
disqualification of the first respondent (Degi-Eremienyo).
“Both
candidates disqualified are deemed not to be candidates in the governorship
election.”
Delivering
the lead judgment, Justice Eko, nullified the APC’s victory, restored and
affirmed the earlier judgment of Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court
in Abuja, which disqualified Degi-Eremienyo’s candidacy and nullified the
party’s ticket for the poll.
He
set aside the December 23, 2019 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which
had contrary to the Federal High Court’s decision validated the former deputy
governor-elect’s candidacy.
The
appeal ruled upon by the Supreme Court was filed by the PDP, its governorship
and deputy governorship candidates of the party, who had alleged in their suit
originated at the Federal High Court in Abuja that Degi-Eremienyo presented to
INEC, documents of academic qualifications with about nine variations of names
different from the name that appeared on his Form CF001 submitted to the
electoral commission.
The names
on the different documents attached to his Form CF001 were said to be,
Biobarakum Degi-Eremienyo, Degi Biobaragha, Degi Biobarakuma, Adegi Biobakunmo,
Degi-Eremienyo Wangagha.
He was
said to have claimed to have obtained “his First School Leaving Certificate in
1976” and presented to INEC “a First Leaving School Certificate of one
Degi Biobaragha other than the one bearing his name Biobaragha Degi-Eremieoyo
as shown in his INEC Form CF001”.
He was
also said to have claimed to have “obtained his West African Examinations
Council General Certificate of Education in 1984” and presented to INEC, “a GCE
certificate of one Adegi Bibakuo other than the one bearing his name
Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo as shown in his INEC Form CF001.”
The
Federal High Court had held that there was no evidence to prove that the
documents with different name variations were his.
Upholding
the finding on Thursday, the apex court held that the affidavits of correction
of names and regularisation of names filed by him were not enough as he ought
to have followed the laid down legal procedures.
The
Supreme Court also held that “having not approached the authorities which
issued the certificates of academic qualifications in 1976 (the first school
leaving certificate) and 1984) (the West African School Certificate/GCE), the
first respondent’s brandishing of the certificates using affidavit to assert
the ownership of the certificates was erroneous.”
It held
that “clearly, the lower court erred when it held that the affidavit of
correction of names sworn to by the first defendant” had corrected the numerous
discrepancies in his names in August.
He said,
“Section 182(1)(j) of the 1999 Constitution provides that nobody shall be
qualified for an election for the governor of a state if he has presented a
forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission”, adding
that “the word fraud” could mean “fabricating, framing and inventing false
identification and making deliberate falsehood”.
He added,
“The lower court (Court of Appeal) was wrong that the appellants did not
establish that the first respondent in Form CF 001 presented to INEC contained
materially false information as to the personal particulars of the first
respondent.
“The
trial court, on the contrary, was right. On this issue, I also allow the
appeal, set aside the judgment of the lower court delivered on 23
December 2019 and I hereby reinstate the judgment of the trial court delivered
on November 12, 2019 including all the others made therein.”
The
Supreme Court ruled that the votes credited to the APC’s candidates were
wasted.
It
ordered INEC to withdraw the certificates of return issued to Lyon and
Degi-Eremienyo as the winners of the poll.
It
ordered fresh ones to be issued to the governorship and deputy governorship candidates
of the party with the highest votes and met the constitutional spread of votes
in the election.
It also
ordered the newly declared winners of the election to be sworn in at the
appropriate time.
No govt
in Bayelsa, PDP candidate won’t be sworn in – Oshiomhole
The PDP
and the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, clashed over the
interpretation of the judgment on Thursday.
Oshiomhole,
in an interview with journalists in Abuja, vowed that nobody would be sworn in
as Bayelsa State governor on Friday.
But the
PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan,
described Oshiomhole’s boast as empty and inconsequential.
Justifying
his stand, Oshiomhole said, “It is not a state secret, if, as the Supreme
Court has ruled, David Lyon cannot now be sworn; that the person, who has the
highest number of votes and the spread, should be sworn in, it simply means
from tomorrow there will be no government in Bayelsa State.
“But, as
far as we know, the next candidate, as the facts are before the court, who
happens to be a PDP candidate, does not have one quarter of the total lawful
votes cast in that election in two-thirds of the local government councils in
Bayelsa State.”
You are
ranting, PDP tells Oshiomhole
But the
PDP dismissed Oshiomhole’s statement. The party warned Oshiomhole to steer
clear of Bayelsa State as his apparent plot to trigger violence in the state
had failed.
It
advised Oshiomhole to be careful with his utterances and “not to use any forms
of venomous garrulity and clear misuse of language to destabilize our nation
and truncate our hard earned democracy.”
Wike
warns APC national chair
Also, the
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, berated Oshiomhole, and called on the
Federal Government to warn him (Oshiomhole) to stop making inflammatory remarks
capable of destabilising the country.
Wike, in
an interview with journalists in Port Harcourt, condemned Oshiomhole for saying
there would be no swearing-in of the PDP candidate in Bayelsa State.
The
governor said, “The Federal Government should warn Oshiomhole to stop making
remarks that will destabilise Nigeria. What he is doing in Edo State is not
proper and he should not bring it to the rest of the Niger Delta.”
Be
consistent, Atiku tells S’Court, hails judgment
The 2019
presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, hailed the Supreme
Court for its judgment on the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa
State.
Atiku in
his personal verified twitter handle @atiku, urged the apex court to be
consistent in its judgment.
He also
urged justices of the Supreme Court to always deliver just judgment no matter
the parties involved.
Buhari
calls off Yenagoa trip
The
Presidency was also shocked by the judgment. It abruptly cancelled a scheduled
press conference on Thursday as the news of the Supreme Court’s decision on
Bayelsa State governorship poll shook the nation.
This came
as The PUNCH gathered that the President, Major General
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had also put off his scheduled visit to Bayelsa on
Friday (today).
He was
billed to inaugurate some petroleum industry projects. The presidential media
team had earlier in the day fixed 3pm to address the State House Press Corps.
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indicated that the agenda was to address sundry issues, including adequate
reaction to the booing of the President by Maiduguri residents on Wednesday and
the need to have regular engagements with reporters on the activities of the
regime.
The
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, and
the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba
Shehu, were to conduct the exercise.
But word
suddenly came from their offices that the press conference had been cancelled,
just as the apex court delivered its judgment.
The
spokespersons gave no official explanations, but The PUNCH learnt
that the cancellation was an immediate reaction to the court’s decision to
avoid being put under pressure to comment on the development.
The
PUNCH’s effort
to get Shehu to comment on whether Buhari would still travel to Bayelsa today
got no response.
The
President’s advance party had since left Abuja ahead of him before the
latest political development in Bayelsa happened on Thursday.
Jubilation
in Bayelsa
There
were jubilations on Thursday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, following
the judgment of the apex court.
Supporters
of the PDP thronged the Government House in Yenagoa singing and dancing even as
they later moved into the Governor’s Lodge where they continued the celebration
of the legal victory.
But the
ruling generated shock waves among members, supporters and chieftains of the
APC. Wrappers and uniforms bearing Lyon’s picture and that of his deputy,
Senator Biobarakuma Degi-Eremineyo, had been printed in large quantities with
sufficient food and drinks already purchased before their sacking.
Lyon’s
inauguration podium dismantled
As a
result of the ruling, a podium being erected at the Samson Siasia Sport Complex
venue of the swearing-in of Lyon was immediately dismantled as soon as news of
the judgment broke.
The flags
of APC earlier erected at the roundabout in front of the Government House,
Yenagoa, were uprooted by PDP supporters.
Also at
the APC secretariat, canopies already mounted ahead of Friday’s celebration
were dismantled.
It was
gathered that the leaders of the APC had booked major hotel accommodation for
visiting guests ahead of the ceremony.
Some of
the guests were said to have started arriving in the state capital before the
nullification of the governor-elect’s election.
A hotel
manager in Ekeki area of Yenagoa, who confided in one of our correspondents,
said they might refund money to those who booked for rooms but their guests had
not checked in while there would be negotiation for rooms that guests had moved
in.
We can’t
act on newspaper report – INEC
Meanwhile,
INEC said it would effect the Supreme Court justice once it is served with its
certified true copy.
INEC
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee,
Mr Festus Okoye, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, in
Abuja, said INEC was bound to obey court orders or judgments.
He
stated, “It is when we receive the certified true copy of the judgment that we
have clear understanding of what the court tells us to do and we will give
effect to the judgment of the Supreme Court.
“All we
have heard and seen as of today are just newspapers reports. We are waiting for
our lawyers who are part of the proceedings, and certified true copy of the
judgment to enable us to study and give effect to it.”
Prominent
lawyers expressed different views on the judgment. A Senior Advocate of
Nigeria, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe, in an interview with The PUNCH, described
the Bayelsa State situation as messy.
He noted
that the state might end up with the Speaker of the state House of Assembly as
acting governor, before INEC conducted a fresh election.
Another
SAN, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, lamented what he described as the growing trend of
the court taking over the power of the Nigerian electorate to choose their
political leaders.
Mr. Ahmed
Raji, SAN, who hailed the Supreme Court, in an interview with The
PUNCH, said, “If a party fields an unqualified candidate, then the
party should be ready to live with the consequences of such an action.”
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