Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, has commended the judiciary<\/p>\n
for asserting its independence and steadfastness in protecting the
\nsanctity of the ballot as well as upholding itself as the bastion of the
\nnation\u2019s democracy. His comment came Thursday afternoon following the
\njudgement of the Appeal Court which upheld the earlier judgement of the
\nBayelsa State governorship election petition tribunal in favour of the
\ngovernor.<\/p>\n
Former governor, Timipre Sylva, had petitioned the appellate court seeking
\nto upturn the decision of the tribunal. But in its judgement in Abuja
\nThursday, the Appeal Court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed Sylva\u2019s
\npetition as lacking in merit and affirmed Dickson\u2019s election as declared
\nby the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).<\/p>\n
It held that the APC failed to provide credible, cogent and convincing
\nevidence for their appeal.<\/p>\n
The 5-man panel of justices of the Appeal Court led by Justice Olukayode
\nBada faulted Sylva on the various grounds of his petition, noting in
\nparticular that contrary to the petition, no credible election took
\nplace on the 6th of December 2016 in Southern Ijaw. Sylva had premised his
\nargument on the cancellation of election in Southern Ijaw Local Government
\nas sole action of INEC, thereby contravening the law. But both the
\ntribunal and the Appeal court thought otherwise.
\nDickson, in the statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel
\nIworiso-Markson, has called on the former governor, Timipre Sylva, to stop
\nthe flagrant abuse of the judicial process and the needless distractions
\ndesigned at overheating the polity.<\/p>\n
He noted that the judgement indicated that the resolve of the people did
\nnot go in vain as he called for greater vigilance to protect democracy in
\nthe country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, has commended the judiciary for asserting its independence and steadfastness in protecting the sanctity of the ballot as well as upholding itself as the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n