ADC Candidates Task Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Warn Against Miscarriage of Justice
As the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal undertakes the task of deciding the faith of Governor Douye Diri who was declared winner of the November 11 governorship polls in the state, the ADC Party Candidates Forum, a group of candidates produced by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has called on the tribunal to do justice.
The forum in a statement issued by its Chairman, Hon Eyilakeme Williams Maxwell, warned against miscarriage of justice in the case filed by the ADC governorship candidate in the state, Mr Kalango Stanley Davies.
Mr Kalango in his petition is seeking to sack the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Diri and his Deputy on grounds that they are not qualified to contest the election.
ADC’s candidate raised in paragraph 11 to 15 of his petition that the Result Summary Sheet indicates that the PDP candidate, won the elections two days before the elections was completely collated.
The petitioner alleged that according to the Result Summary signed by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) state returning officer, the gubernatorial election took place on the 11th of November 2023 and the incumbent was declared winner with 175,196 votes on the same date, 11th of November 2023, while the result was announced by INEC on Monday, November 14, 2023.
The ADC Party Candidates Forum in the statement queried, “Does the (alleged) manipulators deserve to serve the people of Bayelsa State for another four years? Drenched in a deep dark tunnel with no visible light at the end of the tunnel?”
The petitioner said he contested the same election on the 11th of November 2023 in which LGA collations ran into 12th November 2023.
He argued that the final result by INEC that favour the incumbent was allegedly signed by the returning officer, a professor, on the 11th as against 14th of November 2023, the day the result was announced.
Also, the petitioner is seeking the disqualification of the PDP candidate, arguing that his running mate does not have any school certificate or its equivalent.
According to the petition, the deputy governor presented only First School Leaving Certificate ( FSLC) of 1976 against the constitutional requirement for contesting for the office of the Governor/deputy governor of a state.
The ADC candidates argued that the “law requires a candidate to provide INEC with evidence of; (a) 10 years or more service in the private or public sector, (b) attendance of courses or trainings of at least one year and (c) the ability to read and write.”
They aligned with the petitioners that “Deputy Governor does not meet these cumulative requirements of the 1999 Constitution as amended.”
The petitioner also urged the tribunal to disqualify the PDP candidate on the ground of forgery.
The ADC candidates noted that the “Petitioner drew the Tribunal’s attention to (alleged) forged documents the deputy governor presented to INEC to aid his qualification in 2019.
“The PDP’s candidate and his deputy has a joint ticket and both should be disqualified on the account of the NYSC Certificate of Exemption with certificate number 139708 presented by the deputy governor and found to belongs to someone from River State.
The candidates recalled that the ADC Governorship candidate in Bayelsa State argued in his petition that “NYSC Certificate of Exemption can only be issued to a graduate.
“The purported L.L.B. graduate certificate submited to qualify himself for 2019 Governorship Election, shows that he got his NYSC Certificate of Exemption one day before he graduated which is an obvious fact that there was a forgery.
“The question before the law is that if the aforementioned certificate was not forged, why didn’t he use same subsequently? Is this progression or retrogression?”
The candidates, therefore, called on the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to avoid the use of technicalities and ensure justice for the ADC Governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Mr Kalango Stanley Davies.
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