Ahead of the governorship poll and determined to have the last laugh on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that has ditched him, courtesy its recent controversial gubernatorial primary, embattled Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State enlists all possible political and judicial intrigues in the book, writes OSA OKHOMINA
He may not be the toast of all indigenes of Bayelsa State, but until recently, Governor Timipre Sylva, candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State was the man to beat, during the run-up to the crisis that has gripped the party. But the way and manner the PDP scripted his disqualification, the conduct of ward congresses and the primary election that led to the emergence of Hon. Seriake Dickson and the legal victories recorded against the Party, Sylva has drawn empathy and considerable support from many in the state.
The reason for Governor Sylva’s eccentric popularity is premised on legal in-roads he made through the legal arguments he presented to the Federal High Court in Abuja, on his claim regarding the result of the 2011 primary election of the party in which he emerged the party’s flag bearer. Although the party shocked him and his supporters with the submission of Hon. Seriake Dickson’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the recent listing of thirty-five candidates by the electoral umpire without a candidate for the PDP was hailed by many political observers within and outside the state.
The governor, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Doifie Ola, noted that “INEC has taken the right decision as an impartial umpire by acknowledging and stating clearly that the subject of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the governorship election is validly before a court of law, and that as an institution that respects the rule of law and democracy, it would not do anything to prejudice the final outcome of the matter in court.”
Following the run-up to the 19 November 2011 PDP governorship primary in Bayelsa State, Sylva had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to contest his exclusion from the primary by the PDP apparatchik. The governor asked the court to uphold his candidature on the basis of the January 2011 primary or, on the contrary, allow him to participate in any primary that will be conducted by his party, PDP. The learned judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, consequently ordered PDP to show cause why the governor’s prayers should not be granted, and cautioned that the status quo be maintained.
Sylva’s argument at the Supreme Court is that he remains the authentic candidate of the PDP for the February 2012 governorship election. He noted that under the Amended Electoral Act, a political party has no right to withdraw the name of a candidate it has submitted to INEC; it is only the candidate, due to resignation or death, that can so do.
Sylva noted that the governorship election in Bayelsa State was postponed, and not cancelled; adding that the postponement of an election could only be likened to that of Adamawa State which was postponed due to the prevailing security situation in the country occasioned by the recent hike in price of petrol and removal of subsidy on the product from 14 January to 21 January.
“Assuming that this election was postponed for one month or more, will the Adamawa PDP go for another primary to determine the flag-bearer in the rescheduled gubernatorial election? The answer to this is clearly, no,” the governor insisted.
The governor asked the court to invoke Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act to determine the case at the Supreme Court. So that the matter will not go back to the lower court, and that the matter should be given expeditious hearing and treated on its own merit due to the time limitation.
But the party in the state level cried foul at the INEC decision, claiming some people at the commission may have colluded with Sylva to do the party in. The chairman, Mr. James Dugo in a statement distributed at Abuja lamented that “our governorship candidate, Hon. Henry Serike Dickson and his running mate, Rear Admiral John Gboribiogha Jonah (rtd.) have been unjustly excluded from the list of candidates released by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to contest the February 11, 2012 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
“We are completely taken aback by this development and to say the least, we are shocked, embarrassed and disappointed that INEC would take such a drastic and monumental decision without recourse to us as a party, having formally received and accepted the names of our candidate and his running mate following the successful conduct of our party primaries on November 19, 2011.
“Our party has formally written to INEC over this matter and we expect a speedy and prompt response from INEC in this regard. Be that as it may, we wish to strongly express our reservation over the exclusion of our candidate from the lists of candidates released by INEC to contest the February 11, 2012 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
“We refuse to believe that some persons in INEC are colluding with officials of the Bayelsa State government to carry out this sinister act. It is totally condemnable and such an action should be probed and investigated so that those found culpable will be brought to book immediately. Towards this end, we hereby call on the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Prof Atahiru Jega, to speedily wade into this matter and immediately address these obvious lapses.
“We find it most ridiculous and preposterous for anyone to say that because the issue of PDP candidacy is still a subject of litigation therefore, INEC is not obliged to publish the name of our candidate pending the decision of the suit in question.”
Dugo also gave his own interpretation of the Court of Appeal ruling of Saturday, January 7, 2012 presided by Justice Zainab Buckachuwa which is the crust of the problem the party is having in submitting Dickson’s name as candidate. “The ruling of the Court of Appeal on the matter is very clear. According to Justice Buckachuwa in her ruling, she said PDP did not violate any court order when it conducted the November 19, 2011 primaries because in the first place no such order was given.?
“The Court of Appeal ruling also clearly held that Justice Gabriel Ko
lawole of the Federal High Court over-reached himself by making pronouncements that were prejudicial to the PDP when he threatened to nullify the November 19, 2011 primaries conducted by PDP which produced Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson as flag bearer of the PDP in Bayelsa State.
“The court further held that the unfortunate pronouncement of Justice Kolawole amounted to a determination of the substantive suit without hearing from the appellant (PDP) and as such, he (Justice Kolawole) disqualified himself from hearing the substantive suit. The court therefore referred the case back to the Federal High Court where the case will now be heard by another Judge.
“Suffice to say that from the ruling of the Court of Appeal, it will be right to infer that the PDP held governorship primaries of November 19, 2011, which produced Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson as flag bearer of the party in the February 11, 2012 general election in Bayelsa State remains valid and is certified as authentic and superior to any other governorship primaries conducted by the party before now.”
This position was also held by the Acting National Chairman of the Party, Abubakar Baraje who was equally as furious as Dugo with INEC over the removal of the name of the party candidate, Seriake Dickson. He also submitted that Section 33 of the Electoral Act is very clear on the issue .“So, we have pointed that out to INEC that we have done our primaries and this is to the knowledge of INEC.
We have come out successfully with our candidate, we have made the necessary submissions and INEC acknowledged our submissions that time. So, for them to have said that we are in court, therefore, they will not include our candidate is against the law. “INEC has no authority to do so and we have pointed that out and we are working together. I am sure, it will be corrected very, very soon,“
Also supporting the position of the Party was a former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Bayelsa State, Barrister Kari Yekwe. In his submission, he dismissed INEC’s exclusion of the name of PDP’s candidate, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, from its list of candidates released on Thursday to contest the February 11, 2012 governorship election, noting that there is no legal basis for INEC’s action.
The former Attorney General frowned at the arbitrary nature of INEC’s decision to delist the name of the PDP candidate when there was no court order to that effect. According to him,? “Clearly, I consider INEC’s decision to exclude the name of Hon. Seriake Dickson from the list of candidates released to contest the governorship election next month in Bayelsa State as not only illegal and callous, but also smacks of administrative recklessness”.
The former attorney general said INEC is not legally bound by law to act in the way and manner that it did since there was no clear court directive to that effect.? “It is totally wrong for INEC given its role as an electoral umpire to take up the role of interpreting court processes and acting as a final arbiter in a matter that is clearly beyond its normal call of duty as enshrined in the constitution. Honestly, whoever advised Prof. Jega to embark on this course of action should be probed and dealt with decisively”.
Barrister Yekwe said INEC should have sought the legal advice of the Attorney General of the Federation on this matter before taking such an action, if it was in doubt. She further hinted that INEC’s action amounted to a breach of the law and it is capable of inciting violence especially among Dickson’s supporters.
Reacting to the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Barrister Yekwe said there was nothing in the Court of Appeal ruling that in any way suggested that INEC should withhold or exclude the name of the PDP candidate. Rather, the highly respected judge of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Buckachuwa, in her ruling of January 7, 2012 clearly held that Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court over-reached himself by making pronouncements that were prejudicial to the PDP when he threatened to nullify the November 19, 2011 primaries conducted by PDP which produced Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson as flag bearer of the PDP in Bayelsa State.
When asked to comment on the reason given by INEC for dropping the name of the PDP candidate especially with reference to the fact that the matter was subject to litigation, Barrister Yekwe replied with a note of finality thus: “It is not INEC’s business to interpret the law. No court authorized INEC to carry out such an order”.
Observers have applauded for Sylva for putting up a brave fight at all points during the endless battles between him and the mounting opposition from party men at the national level. But the quiet spoken politician insisted that he did more than put up a fight but has exposed the “lawlessness” of the ruling party. He actually believes that with his case before the Federal High Court in Abuja and his insistence on rule of law, the excluded candidacy will be returned to him at the end and his re-election assured.
His first port of call in his task to redress the disgrace was the Court, and he has never left anyone in doubt of his readiness to stick to the court and regain his quest for the second tenure in the state. Sylva, and his retinue of aides, have virtually moved to Abuja. He is doing everything, including pulling his weight, fortunes, guile and courage to convince the court and the INEC that the PDP erred and should be punished with the affirmation of his candidature in the party.
The State Commissioner of Information, Communication and Orientation, Chief Nathan Egba,in his response to the ruling by the Court stated that the Bayelsa State Government commendation of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja for its ruling on the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the competence of the suit filed by the Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva seeking to be retained as the candidate of the party for the 2012 governorship election was due to the sigh of relief from suffering indigenes of the State.
Meanwhile, according to the Opposition candidates, under aegis of the Committee of Bayelsa State Governorship Candidates 2012,”the INEC should strongly guard against being cajoled, forced or pressured by any party, group of individuals or interest group of individuals or interest groups to foist a candidate on INEC by the PDP that had not been so cleared by the courts ruling in the PDP subsisting litigation. If for any reason, other that the court decision, which we all shall accept as law abiding citizens, we will use any legitimate means including boycotting the election and its taking the matter to court, to stop INEC from conducting the Bayelsa State Guber polls.”
In a bold statement on the issue of alleged “pressure” being mounted by the PDP Leadership on the INEC over the exclusion of the Party, said “diatribes against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by mandarins of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aimed at comp?? romising the commission from its adherence to the rule of law on the Bayelsa State governorship race is a threat to Nigeria’s democracy”.