More trouble looms for the defeated candidate of the All Progressives
\nCongress (APC) in the December 5, 2015 and January 9, 2016 Governorship
\nelection in Bayelsa State,<\/p>\n
Chief Timipre Sylva as Governor Henry SeriakeDickson initiates legal
\nfireworks to disqualify Sylva from ever contesting governorship election.<\/p>\n
After losing the last election, Sylva who had been governor of the state
\nbetween May, 2007 and February, 2012 approached the Bayelsa State Election
\nPetition Tribunal sitting in Abuja seeking to be declared winner but lost
\nhis bid on all grounds. Rather, the tribunal upheld the election of
\nDickson but Sylva, to the disappointment of analysts appealed the
\njudgement.<\/p>\n
But Dickson who expressed dissatisfaction with the tribunal for refusing
\nto bar Sylva from contesting governorship election having taken
\ngovernorship oath of office twice, has cross appealed the judgement of the
\ntribunal in which he won.<\/p>\n
In a cross appeal filed on Monday, August 15, Dickson\u2019s lead counsel, Tayo
\nOyetibo contended that by virtue of section 182(1)b of the 1999
\nConstitution, Sylva having been elected governor of Bayelsa State on two
\nprevious occasions is neither qualified to contest election into that
\noffice again or present any petition challenging Dickson\u2019s victory at the
\npolls.<\/p>\n
Section 182(1) b of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
\nNigeria states: \u201cNo person shall be qualified for election to the office
\nof Governor of a state if \u2026 he has been elected to such office at any two
\nprevious elections.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Sylva, it will be recalled contested the governorship election in the
\nstate on 14th April, 2007, won and was sworn in on May 29, 2007. Luck ran
\nout of him on 15th April, 2008 when the Court of Appeal nullified\u00a0 his
\nelection on grounds that it was fraught with irregularities and\u00a0 directed
\nhim to hand over to the Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly.
\nConsequent upon the annulment, a new election was conducted by the
\nIndependent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on 24th May, 2008 in
\nwhich Sylva was returned as elected. Consequently, Sylva took another oath
\nofallegiance and oath of office on May 29, 2008 and exercised the powers
\nof a governor until February 14, 2012 when Governor Dickson was sworn in.<\/p>\n
While quoting copiously from decided Supreme Court cases such as Brig.
\nGen. Muhammed Buba Marwa versus ADM. Murtala Nyako, Dickson affirmed that
\nSylva was not qualified to challenge his re-election at the tribunal and
\nurged the Appeal Court to strike out the petition and formally disqualify
\nSylva from ever running for governorship having been sworn in twice as
\ngovernor.<\/p>\n
Special Adviser to Governor Dickson on Media Relations, Mr. Francis Agbo
\nsaid having woefully lost the election in seven out of eight local
\ngovernment areas in the state in spite of the manipulation and
\nintimidation of voters by the federal agencies, Sylva should have
\ncongratulated Governor Dickson and joined hands with the governor to
\nrestore the lost glory of the state and not to write a petition that is
\natbest \u2018\u2018watery, bare in content and was as usual,dead on arrival.\u2019\u2019 While
\nstressing that Sylva has a bad case having been totally rejected by the
\npeople, a decision which the tribunal has upheld, his appeal was an
\nunnecessary distraction but the governor will never be distracted from
\nserving his people because according to him, his boss has his hands on the
\nplough and the Bible says a man who has his hands on the plough will never
\nlook back.<\/p>\n
Agbo accused Sylva and his APC friends in high places of terrorizing the
\nNigerian Judiciaryto make Sylva governor through the backdoor. While
\nadvising Sylva to stop dragging the judiciary in the mud, the governor\u2019s
\nimage maker urges the Judiciary not to be blackmailed or intimidated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More trouble looms for the defeated candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the December 5, 2015 and January 9, 2016 Governorship election in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n