Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has applauded the judgment
\nof Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja which upheld his victory
\nin the December 5 2016 governorship election describing it “a victory for
\ndemocracy and Bayelsans.”<\/p>\n
The governor in a statement issued on Tuesday evening by his Chief Press
\nSecretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, also commended the judiciary “for
\nupholding our nation\u2019s democracy and once again acquitting itself as the
\nbastion of our democracy.”<\/p>\n
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Timipre Sylva, had
\nchallenged the election of Dickson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
\nseeking a reversal of the decision of the Independent National Electoral
\nCommission (INEC) which declared him as the valid winner of the election.<\/p>\n
But in a unanimous decision, the three-man tribunal, led by Justice Kazeem
\nAloba, said the APC failed woefully to prove its case.<\/p>\n
The tribunal consequently dismissed Sylva\u2019s petition and upheld Dickson\u2019s
\nelection as earlier declared by INEC.<\/p>\n
The governor, according to Iworiso-Markson, praised Bayelsans for voting
\nfor him and his party on conviction and stood to protect their votes.<\/p>\n
The governor, who regretted the loss of lives and property during the
\nelection, decried the \u201cintimidation of voters\u201d which he regarded as a
\nfailure of institution.<\/p>\n
Dickson, however, said that the judgement indicated that “the resolve of
\nthe people did not go in vain” as he canvassed for \u201cgreater vigilance to
\nprotect democracy\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cWe want to use this opportunity to thank the good people of
\nBayelsa State for voting en-masse for the PDP and defending their votes
\neven in the face of such virulent intimidation and harassment. This
\njudgement is clearly a victory for democracy and the resilient and
\ncourageous people of Bayelsa.”<\/p>\n
The governor also commended the judiciary for its role as the defender of
\nthe constitution, saying that without a fearless and independent
\njudiciary, democracy is imperiled.<\/p>\n
According to him, it was not the election that was on trial per se but the
\njudiciary itself, adding that the judgement of the tribunal validated the
\nsaying that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has applauded the judgment of Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja which upheld his victory in the December 5 2016 governorship election describing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n