The Justice Adekunle Adeleye led Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has reserved judgment in a petition filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Timipre Sylvia seeking the removal of Douye Diri as the governor of Bayelsa state.
Justice Adeleye reserved the date for judgement after various counsel in the matter had adopted their final written addresses, adding that all the parties would be communicated when the judgment is ready.
At Monday’s proceedings, the petitioners, Sylva and the APC asked the tribunal to nullufy the declaration of Diri as the winner of the election.
Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, lead counsel for the petitioners told the tribunal that the Independent National Electoral Commission, wrongly excluded results before arriving at the declaration of Diri as winner.
Ikpeazu submitted that INEC did not deny the allegation of wrongful exclusion of results having not called the state election result collation officer to testify.
Therefore, he urged the tribunal to objectively decide the petition on the strength of the evidence tendered by the petitioners, especially for the fact that INEC did not call a single witness to challenge all the allegations.
On his part, Diri’s counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition by Sylvia because it was dead on arrival and for being grossly deficient in quantity and quality of evidence.
Governor Diri’s counsel told the tribunal that the petition was “baseless, frivolous and vexatious and grossly lacking in merit” because the two petitioners did not discharge the burden placed on them by law.
Uche pleaded with the tribunal to discountenance the evidence of a former Police Commissioner in the state on the ground that the police officer admitted before the tribunal that he had issues with Diri when the Prado Jeep earlier given to him was withdrawn.
Uche, among other pleadings, urged the tribunal not to invoke the spirit of the judgment that brought Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, into office, adding that INEC has established beyond doubt that election did not hold in the three local governments due to resistance by some hoodlums to the use of BVAS machines.
Similarly, INEC, represented by Charles Edosomwan, SAN, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, represented by Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, canvassed for dismissal of the petition on the ground that the two petitioners failed and neglected to discharge the burden of establishing their allegations against the election beyond reasonable doubt as required by law.
They asserted that they did not call witnesses because the witnesses of petitioners killed and buried the petition while being cross examined during the proceedings.
