The Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has fixed April 22, 2024 for parties to adopt their final briefs of argument in the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate, Timipre Sylva challenging the outcome of the November 11, 2023 off-cycle governorship poll that held in the State.
Justice Adekunle Adeleye who led the three-member panel fixed the date on Thursday after Governor Douye Diri, his deputy, Lawrence Awhrujakpo and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who are respondents in the petition, closed their defence.
Governor Diri’s witnesses, including the Bayelsa State PDP Secretary, Gesiye Isowo, among other things tendered before the Tribunal the Governor’s PDP membership card and his Permanent Voters Card, the official result of the election as well as the final declaration of the result, which were contained in INEC’s forms.
The Petitioners had contended that the Voters registers that were tendered in evidence and marked as Exhibit R1- R19 by the Tribunal, were generated on January 25, 2023 and only used for the National Assembly elections and not the governorship poll.
The Petitioners opposed the tendering and admissibility of the registers which they were not furnished with as directed by the Tribunal.
The counsel to Governor Diri urged the Tribunal to discountenance the objection raised by the Petitioners and admit the exhibit as relevant to the case. They argued that it would help to confirm if the witness actually voted during the election or not.
A former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Bayelsa State, Gowon Toruyouyei testified as a subpoena witness in the deputy Governor’s defence, while the PDP had a former Attorney General of Bayelsa State, Talford Ongolo, as its own witness.
Onogolo in his testimony maintained that the APC governorship candidate, Sylva could not have been validly sponsored for the election by the APC, having already been elected as a governor twice.
All the respondents thereafter closed their defence as the Tribunal adjourned the matter for adoption and directed the parties to file and exchange their processes before the April 22, 2024 adjourned date.
Editor: Ken Eseni
