– Accepts Discredited Ward Congress Results
The political face-offs between Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State and Nigerians ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, intensified on Wednesday as indications emerged that an ex-parte ruling to stop the governorship primaries may be discountenanced by the party leadership.
The PDP, in spite of the legal pronouncements that ordered it to, within seventy-two hours, respond to the petition of Governor Sylva, said that it was not aware of any such ruling and warned “mischief makers” from acting on such purported court decision.
A local opposition party, the CNPP, vowed to support Mr. Sylva to resist the violation of his suffrage rights by the PDP.
However, in spite of suspected procedural breeches concerning ward delegate election on Monday, the PDP received the list of winners in the ward congresses. Five of the six cleared governorship aspirants alleged there was no true election. Rather, the PDP reportedly employed illegal means to fix results in favor of Dickson, the contestant suspected to be the anointed choice of Abuja.
Mr. Mohammed Wakili, Chairman of the Ward Congress Committee of the PDP, said that a total of 315 delegates emerged from the exercise conducted in 305 wards in eight local councils of the state.
The protesters, said in their petition addressed to the PDP National Chairman dated Nov. 14, 2011, that the congress was not conducted anywhere in the state.
Wakili said that earlier hitches recorded in Brass and Nembe had been rectified, adding that “the stage is set for the primary’’.
Wakili urged the aggrieved parties to channel their grievances to the party’s appeal panel.
“Election is a process and election has to be conducted, so if you have any grievances we have an appeal where you can lay your complaints.
“But I am surprised that while the congress was going on in Bayelsa, some people were complaining in Abuja, and I don’t know whether the election is conducted in Abuja, or the election was done in Bayelsa.
“So, that is not going to surprise us because its natural for Nigerian politicians to complain,’’ Wakili said.
The committee’s report was received by Chief Adewale Fatona, Director of Mobilisation of the PDP.
The court had ruled on Wednesday to stop the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from going ahead with Saturday’s governorship primary election in Bayelsa State.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole granted the order, following an ex-parte application filed on Sylva’s behalf by Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
He warned that he shall not hesitate to nullify any step taken by the PDP in defiance of his order, once the defendants are served the order and the originating summons.
He gave the defendant 72 hours to show cause why all the reliefs sought by Sylva should not be granted and adjourned the matter till November 22 for hearing.
The defendants are the PDP, its acting national chairman, Abubakar Kawu Baraje, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The court held that the era when political parties manipulate processes leading to the emergence of candidates are over, based on the 2010 Electoral Act as amended.
Justice Kolawole said: “When I looked at the totality of the facts in the substantive Originating Summons and when these are considered vis-à-vis the extant provisions of the Electoral Act as Amended, my view is that the Court will not in any way be handicapped, even if the exparte orders, in particular, prayers 1 – 3 are not granted because the court retains the power to direct the 1st Defendant (INEC).’
Justice Kolawole said in terms of political parties’ candidates who may have been unlawfully excluded either from the parties’ primaries or from the elections to accept and act on the name(s) of such candidates as the authentic candidates sanctioned and approved by the court.
“The new Electoral Act as Amended is a clear departure from the 1983 Act by which on the authority of the Supreme Court’s decision in Onuoha V. Okafor, the political parties were “god unto themselves” in terms of the choice of candidates. This court had intervened in quite a number of political parties’ cases when candidates were being manipulated by the leadership of the political parties.
“It is in this regard that I really do not see the Plaintiff being exposed in the long run to such injury, loss or damage that may, applying the Supreme Court’s decision in Kotoye V. CBN, supra be described as ‘irreparable or irretrievable’. Whatever be the case, I have no doubt that this court has the judicial powers to make appropriate orders as the justice of the case will require.
“Let me state, for the avoidance of doubt, that in relation to prayers 1 – 3 of the Motion Exparte, the Plaintiff has made out a strong case which ordinarily should enable this court to grant the said prayers. But in the light of the analysis I have done as regards the statutory powers which the court has pursuant to Electoral Act, 2010 as amended, the 2nd Defendant [PDP] does not, in the long run, have the final say because the court can always make appropriate orders as the justice of the case will require to redress any wrong that may be occasioned by my judicial hesitation in granting the said prayers 1-3 on the motion ex-parte.”
Sylva, who is seeking re-election, has been excluded from the primary by the party. He is bitter that the party is planning to dump him after winning the January 12 primary before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the governorship election.
The INEC action was based on an order of an Abuja High Court which declared that the tenure of five governors continue beyond May 29 because they won re-run elections. The verdict was upheld by the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
The governor is contending that his candidacy subsists as nobody petitioned against his success at the said primary election to the screening appeal panel or any other body or committee of the 2nd defendant.
Lagos lawyer Femi Falana on Tuesday wrote a letter to INEC, asking it to stop the planned primary because Sylva won the January primary.
Besides, he said the PDP made him to pay another N5.5 million for the scheduled fresh primary election which the party has barred him from participating in.
In the motion on notice, Sylva is, among others praying the court for “an order of interim injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, privies, officers or otherwise and/or any other person howsoever described from conducting, organising, or holding any meeting or ward congress and from embarking on any activities leading to the holding of any fresh gubernatorial primary election for Bayelsa State on the 19th November, 2011 or on any other day, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
Besides, he urged the court to stop the party from nominating another candidate for the election and accelerate the hearing of the substantive suit.