APC's Petition Dismissed, Diri Remains Bayelsa Governor
Tribunal upholds Diri's election as Bayelsa governor and rejects the APC's appeal
Douye Diri's reelection as the state's governor has been confirmed by the Bayelsa governorship election petition panel.
The petition submitted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate Timipre Sylva was rejected by a three-member tribunal presided over by Adekunle Adeleye due to its lack of merit.
The panel determined unanimously on Monday that the petitioners had not produced any reliable evidence to support any of the claims they had made against the results of the Bayelsa poll.
All further evidence was excluded by the tribunal, along with some of the petitioners' witnesses' sworn testimonies, due to their incompetence.
The tribunal determined that the petitioners had not submitted their supplementary evidence within the legally permitted 21-day period.
The tribunal ruled that Sylva and his party's choice to submit their supplementary evidence and testimony of witnesses under oath so long after filing the petition amounted to a “tantamount to a surreptitious attempt to amend the case of the petitioners.”
The tribunal further stated that a court with appropriate authority has adjudicated the question of Ewhrudjakpo's educational qualifications.
The tribunal also determined that the petitioners' requests for contradictory relief—namely, the court's declaration of their victory in the poll and the annulment of the same election—were in conflict with one another.
According to the ruling, neither Sylva nor the APC submitted any electoral evidence demonstrating that there were anomalies in the poll
The decision concluded that the petitioners could not meet the legal burden of proof.
The panel declared that it could not find any justification for overturning the INEC-announced election results.
the tribunal ruled: “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.
“None 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.”
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Diri was proclaimed the victor of the off-cycle election in Bayelsa on November 13, 2023, after he received 175,196 votes, defeating Sylva and other contenders.
Sylva received 110,108 votes and was a previous state minister for petroleum resources.
Diri won reelection to a second term in government.
Sylva and his party, dissatisfied with the results of the election, petitioned the tribunal, claiming that INEC had improperly removed election results from three LGAS: Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, and Nembe.
Sylva stated that APC agents oversaw the poll and transmitted results from the various polling places to the collation center, in contrast to INEC's assertion that the election did not take place in the impacted LGAS.
Despite APC agents supervising the poll and transmitting results from the various polling places to the collation center, INEC maintains that the election did not take place in the impacted LGAS.
He referred to the three LGAs as his strongholds and said that if the areas had been included, the results would have given him the win in the election.
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