The fate of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)in Bayelsa State for the November poll, Chief Timipre Sylva appears to hang imbalance following his disqualification by court to run. SOJI AJIBOLA writes on the genesis of the issues surrounding his bid to return to the Government House Yenagoa, the climax and other matters arising.
IT is precisely a month to the governorship election in Bayelsa State. The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state seems to have found itself in troubled waters. It is recalled that the party forfeited the opportunity to break the jinx of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governing the oil-bearing state after Nigeria restored civil rule in 1999. APC candidate was declared the winner of the off-season governorship poll held in 2020 in the state. But a major discrepancy in the qualification of the deputy governor robbed the APC of creating a political upset in the history of governorship poll in Bayelsa. The party seems to be on the verge of losing another chance to challenge the PDP in the race for the Government house, Yenagoa.
Barring a contrary verdict by either the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court, the APC may not participate in the November 11 election sequel to the disqualification of its candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva by the Abuja court. The period for the replacement of candidate has since lapsed, based on the provision of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2023 as amended. The ruling of the Federal High Court could be the last straw that breaks the Bayelsa APC’s back as the party has been battling with a number of challenges since the flag off of its governorship campaign.
The development is a climax to the issues that had trailed the party for some time. It all began when a member of the party dragged the deputy governorship candidate of APC, Joshua Maciver before the Yenagoa High Court challenging his eligibility. The case is still pending in the court. Besides, another allegation was that he did not register as a former Niger Delta militant with the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP. However, he has since been cleared of that allegation.
It was alleged that Maciver did not register as a beneficiary of the amnesty and unconditional pardon granted to Niger Delta ex-agitators by the Federal Government But PAP, in a turn of event s, had attributed its earlier position to a technical error. It stated in a letter to the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF), dated August 24, 2023 that its Technical and Data unit hastily provided a reply that misrepresented Maciver’s presidential pardon because they had not thoroughly scrutinised the register.
The letter read in part: “I am writing in response to your letter with reference: SGF.19/S/105/178 dated 7 July 2023, as well as this organization’s reply under Reference OIA/PAP/IAO/VOL V/417 dated 7th July, 2023, concerning Mr. Joshua MacIver’s status as a beneficiary of the Presidential Amnesty Progromme (PAP). I would like to mention that due to the urgency of the confirmation, our Technical and Data Unit provided information hastily, as indicated by the dates of both the received letter and our response.
“Upon thorough investigation, we have identified an oversight in our records regarding Mr. Joshua Maciver’s PAP beneficiary status. It has now been established that Mr. MacIver received an unconditional pardon from the Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. “We deeply regret any confusion or inconvenience caused by this oversight. Rest assured, we have taken corrective measures to rectify our records and prevent future discrepancies. “We apologise for any misunderstandings and any inconvenience this misrepresentation may have caused. We remain steadfast and committed to maintaining accurate records for all PAP beneficiaries. Please accept, as always, my highest assurances and esteemed regards.”
While the dust over this matter is still in the air, the Federal High Court delivered the verdict on Sylva as the candidate of the APC for next month’s election. The court, while ruling on the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023 filed on June 13 by Deme Kolomo, a member of the APC, disqualified Sylva on the ground that he had been sworn in twice as the governor of Bayelsa. Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had in a judgment delivered on Monday, ruled that Sylva is not eligible to contest in the forthcoming poll. His disqualification, according to Justice Okorowo, is because Sylva had been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of the state. His decision to contest for the office of governor again, according to the ruling, will breach the 1999 Constitution as amended. It was also added that if he should contest, win and is sworn in, he would spend more than eight years in office as governor of the state.
Citing the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, Justice Okorowo noted that the drafters of the 1999 Constitution stated that nobody should be voted for as governor more than twice and that the parties to the suit agreed that Sylva was voted into office two times. He further stated that the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope. So, if Sylva is allowed to contest the next election, it means a person can contest as many times as he wishes.
Apparently, the judgment came as a rude shock to the APC faithful in the state. Nonetheless, they are hopeful that the matter could be reversed before the date of the election. The leadership of the party in the state has rekindled hope in the party members. The party announced its plan to appeal against the judgment, describing it as unjust, unfair and undemocratic. The Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Bayelsa Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Mr. Perry Tukuwei, unveiled the plan shortly after the judgment. In a statement, he was confident that the judgment would be upturned at the Appeal Court.
In the statement, APC said its ground of appeal is that the suit was filed outside the 14-day constitutional window for filing pre-election matters. Also, it was filed in Abuja in contravention of a Supreme Court directive that all pre-election matters be heard in the state where party primaries were held. According to the statement is a ploy by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Douye Diri to prevent Sylva from contesting the election. The party has briefed its lawyers to appeal the judgment, and it is confident that the Court of Appeal will overturn the judgment of the Federal High Court. This reassurance is in reaction to a judgment which has the Peoples 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 did not have the locus standi to sue in the matter.
“Section 285 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution enjoins any aggrieved party to file 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,” Thus, the case was filed outside the constitutional prescribed 14 days, thereby making the case statute barred. It is surprising to the party and Bayelsa people that the court ignored the fact that the plaintiff lacked the locus standi to sue and went ahead to give judgement in their favour. To perfect their sinister act, the case was filed in Abuja. Is Abuja Bayelsa?
Subsequently, the Bayelsa APC can smell the coffee and sinister move 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. Our dear people of Bayelsa, fear not! This clandestine strategy by the PDP should not deter the resolve to elect Sylva as the next Governor of Bayelsa, we will win.”
In the meantime, the current development, coupled with others seem to have put the APC in a tight corner as the decision of the higher courts to uphold the ruling of the lower court may pose a challenge for the party and its members Other contending parties, including the PDP, Labour Party and Accord have rationalised the lastest twist in the political space of Bayelsa as the election nears. They are said to perceive the setback of APC as the real opportunity for them to worm themselves into the heart of APC faithful in the state. But APC members are optimistic that the ruling. However, party of the appellate court will be in their favour, as they submitted that the political PDP miracle church has been shut down permanently.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
