Ahead of the forthcoming Appeal Court judgment in Abuja on the Bayelsa
State governorship election, candidate of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Chief Timipre Sylva who is challenging the re-election of Governor
Henry Seriake Dickson, has continued celebration.
A civil society organisation, Movement for the Independence of the
Judiciary in the Niger Delta, in a statement issued on Sunday by its
National President, Patrice Egribido, said that Sylva and his party (APC)
were already celebrating, organising victory parties in Yenagoa and
According to him, Sylva actually “influenced the nomination of Justice
Jimi Bada, the chairman of the five-man Appeal Court to declare him
governor.”
Egribido said, “Sylva and Justice Bada have been long standing friends and
have remained inseparable. Justice Bada, was the judge who presided over
the Appeal Court that capriciously extended the tenure of Sylva in office
as Governor of Bayelsa State before the Supreme Court upturned it.
“The panel chairman, Justice Bada hails from Osun State. The other members
of the panel are Justice H. Mukhtar, Justice T.S Yakubu, Justice T.O
Awotoye and Justice N. Okoronkwo.
“Since the Appeal Court reserved judgement on the Chief Timipre Sylva’s
petition, APC camps in Bayelsa have been inundated with jubilation. We
also hear that Sylva reportedly boasted before his trusted allies that he
nominated the learned Justice Bada to apparently do a hatchet job for
him.”
Having earned a reputation for dishing out controversial judgements such
as the elongation of Sylva’s tenure some years ago, the MIJN alleged that
it was not a surprise to the civil society world that “the APC are now
jubilating that the controversial jurist was drafted to make Sylva
governor through the backdoor.”
The group is also probing why all the five justices on the Appeal Court
were drawn from only APC-controlled states.
Egribido averred that it couldn’t have been coincidental that the five
justices were selected from only APC states, adding that the skewed
selection smacks of suspicion and goes to confirm fears that the justices
were on a pre-determined mission and not to deliver justice.
While stressing that it would continue to condemn any act capable of
undermining the independence of the judiciary, Egribido advised the
President of Court of Appeal to urgently redress this imbalance.
While reiterating its political neutrality, the MIJN believes the skewed
selection of the panelists leaves so much unanswered question.
Egribido said, “Does it mean that the President of the Court of Appeal is
not sensitive to the Nigeria political reality? Or is she saying that
there are no competent justices in PDP-controlled states? Even as a non-
political group, we are sensitive to the sensitivity of electoral contest
and pluralism of Nigeria, is the Judiciary blind to these realities?’’
they asked.
Investigations have shown that Justice Mukhtar hails from Bauchi, Justice
Yakubu, Kogi, Justice Awotoye, Osun and Justice Okoronkwo hails from Imo
State, all governed by APC governors.
When contacted, Bayelsa State Secretary of PDP, Mr. Godspower Keku, calls
for calm and prayers for Dickson and PDP.
While stressing that Governor Dickson won the December 5, 2015 and January
9, 2016 governorship elections resoundingly, he said Sylva was rejected by
Bayelsans at the polls.
He also believes that Sylva’s petition was built on a quick sand, adding
that you cannot build something on nothing and expect it to stand.
Keku however said if the APC succeeded in manipulating the appellate
court, the PDP and Governor Dickson will approach the Supreme Court for
redress.