- We’re not dampened, Bayelsa people behind us – APC chieftains
- Party vows to appeal Sylva’s disqualification, kicks off campaign
- It’s risky for APC – Lawyers
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR AND BENEDICT NWACHUKWU
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State ahead of the November 11 governorship election, Timipre Sylva appeared to be in a dilemma following his disqualification by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
Although the party has vowed to appeal the judgement, it appears history is about to repeat itself in the state against the APC.
Recall that David Lyon was also disqualified on a technical ground in 2019 barely 24 hours into his inauguration as the governor.
However, some of the party’s chieftains, in their separate interviews with The Point on Tuesday, argued that Lyon’s case was different from Sylva’s and maintained that the APC was not dampened by the court judgement.
A chieftain of the party, Kehinde Ayantunji, noted that Sylva is qualified to contest the governorship election and that the party would have considered all the necessary factors before clearing him to contest the office.
He expressed hope of victory for the party at the Appeal Court, saying, “When you look at the judgment at its surface, you will know that it cannot stand at the appellate court. APC is a party with a very strong institution and before they cleared him (Sylva) to contest for the governorship office, he must have been examined to ensure that he meets all the constitutional provisions. So, the party cannot present a candidate that will not be able to stand for election or that would be disqualified.
“We hope that the Appeal Court will do justice to it but I am still expecting the complete judgement to really know the grounds. But, I can assure you that we have hope in appeal and the court will definitely trash it.”
In his submission, the Chairman of the party in Osun State, Tajudeen Lawal, said party members and people of Bayelsa State who are supporters of the APC should not be dampened by the judgment, assuring that the party would guide against the repetition of David Lyon’s experience.
He said, “Our party in Bayelsa State has already stated its readiness to go on appeal and the court process is part of the election process. So, it is nothing unusual.”
On Lyon’s saga, he said, “That’s what we are trying to guide against in the court. We are not dampened.”
Some legal practitioners weighed in on the issue, noting that the Supreme Court would be able to state whether Sylva could be said to be a two-term governor or not because of the circumstances surrounding the abrupt end of his tenures.
A lawyer, Adesina Yusuf submitted, “What is happening with the issue of Timipre Sylva is to test the law. We go to court to test what is written in law. This case is novel; in law, we call it locus classicus and it can end up being a locus classicus in our jurisprudence. However, when you are dissatisfied with what happened at a lower court, you can go on to appeal the matter of which he has a right to do and he has done it. The time frame for the election to be conducted and appeal held is still enough because there is no time limit for the case being a pre-election matter, not an election matter that has a time frame.
“However, if he loses at the Appeal Court, he still has a right to go to the Supreme Court which is the final bus-stop for him to try the law. Personally, I will be glad if the matter gets to the Supreme Court so that we can have a new rule because he has been sworn in twice and he still wants to be sworn in the third time which violates the provision of the law.
“If he loses at the Supreme, it means the party has not validly elected a candidate for the election and therefore, the party would lose the governorship seat automatically. Let me cast your mind to what happened in Bayelsa State whereby a candidate was disqualified on falsification of results. He was removed a day before his inauguration.
“If the Supreme Court disqualifies Sylva, it will also affect his deputy because they are flying on a joint ticket. What is written in law is not final until it is tested in court.”
Another chieftain of the party who preferred anonymity told The Point that the High Court’s judgment did not come to them as a surprise.
He said, “There is no true member of our party in this state who does not know that this will be the eventual outcome. You cannot build something on nothing.
“When he (Sylva) took the party’s ticket, some of us expressed fears that our party was in for a wild goose chase because he had been sworn in twice as a governor of the state. We warned but those clamouring for him and with the support of Abuja gave him the ticket which has turned out to be against the party.”
In disagreement with the judgment, a lawyer and social critic, Sylva Emeka, said the interpretation of the Constitution has berated its tenets.
He said, “The issue of nobody should be sworn in more than two times in a position which the judge used to disqualify Sylva is a double standard as such matters have come up in the past and the court cleared the candidate.
“This is exactly the same case with former President Goodluck Jonathan before the 2015 general election and the court ruled in his favour that he was qualified to contest after being sworn in as President. He went ahead to contest but lost to Muhammadu Buhari.
“As we talk, the governor of Adamawa State, Umar Fintiri has been sworn in thrice as a governor. Whatever is the reason behind the judgment I don’t know but it should not be on the Constitutional provisions on the swearing in of governors.”
APC REACTS
While reacting to the judgment, the APC in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said “Against the backdrop of an Abuja Federal High Court decision that disqualified the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Timipre Sylva, we wish to state categorically that Chief Sylva is and remains the Bayelsa State governorship candidate of our great party in the November 11, 2023 governorship election.
“Our party and its candidate have duly instructed the legal team to appeal the said decision of the Federal High Court, diligently and expeditiously.
“We urge our teeming members, supporters and residents of Bayelsa State to remain calm and await the outcome of the appeal, and we remain confident that we shall prevail.
“With nothing to offer the Bayelsa electorate, following its lacklustre performance as the ruling party, the jittery PDP in Bayelsa State has since resorted to mercenary lawsuits, underhand dealings and antics to distract and create confusion among the good people of the state.
“We wish to reconfirm that the party’s governorship campaign flag off will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2023 in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. All stakeholders, party members, supporters, and the general public are cordially invited to join the winning campaign.”
The Bayelsa State chapter of the APC has also vowed to challenge the judgment at the Appeal Court.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Bayelsa gubernatorial campaign council, Perry Tukuwei, said he was confident that the Court of Appeal would nullify the verdict of the trial court.
“This reassurance is in reaction to a judgment which has the People’s Democratic Party and its candidate written all over it by a Federal High Court in Abuja in an already failed bid to dash the hopes of Bayelsa people to have their preferred candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva as the next helmsman at Creek Haven by Feb. 14, 2024.
“Sections 29 and 84 of the 2022 Electoral Act state that only persons who contested primaries of a political party that has the locus standi to file a pre-election matter to challenge the qualification of the party’s candidate in any election hence the suit filed by one Chief Demesuoyefa Kolomo who is not a member of the APC and didn’t contest our party’s governorship primaries do not have the locus standi to sue in the matter.
“Section 285 of the 1999 Nigerian constitution enjoins any aggrieved party to file an election matter within 14 days of the occurrence of the event but this case was filed on the 13th of June 2023 whereas INEC published the names of the governorship candidates for Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi on May 12,” he said.
Tukuwei noted that the case was statute barred because it was filed outside the 14-day period.
“To perfect their sinister act, the case was filed in Abuja. Is Abuja Bayelsa?,” he queried.
“Subsequently, the Bayelsa APC can smell the coffee and sinister moves by Governor Douye Diri to go through the back door which is his usual practice having realised that our governorship candidate is coasting home to victory already following unrivalled acceptance across the state,” he explained.
Tukuwei said residents of Bayelsa State should not be deterred by the court order.
Judiciary shouldn’t determine election winners — US lawyer
A Nigerian US-based lawyer, Chris Okobah, on Tuesday, charged the Independent National Electoral Commission to improve the nation’s electoral system to stop the judiciary from deciding the fate of election results.
Okobah, speaking in Asaba, said the court has become a refuge for the political elite who manipulate the electoral system to achieve their desired outcomes.
He said, “The court is becoming a guff, bleeding ground for electoral frauds which is causing more harm than good to the country’s democracy, and as such, it is no longer the last hope of the common man.
“The uncertainty and confusion in the air following the recent court Judgements show that the court is now “the last hope of the corrupt politicians because they get what they want, after all”.
“It is nonsense when we say that the court is the last hope of the common man. The court is now the last hope of corrupt politicians because they use it to get what they want. So, why must we leave our electoral system to court to decide, it only happens though, because of the manipulations in the system.”
