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Tag: Timipre Sylva

  • Appeal court upholds Dickson’s election

    Appeal court upholds Dickson’s election

    The appeal tribunal at the Court of Appeal, Abuja on Thursday dismissed the appeal by former Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva against the validation of Seriake Dickson’s election by the trial tribunal.
    Sylva and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) had appealed the decision of the governorship election tribunal, which sat in Abuja, and urged the appellate court to set aside the trial  judgment delivered on July 26, 2016.
    In a unanimous judgment, a five-man panel led by Justice Jimi Olukayode Bada, resolved the five issues raised for determination against Sylva. The appeal was marked: CA/A/EPT/482/2016.
    The court, in a lead judgment read by Justice Bada, held that Sylva failed to prove his allegation that the election held on December 6, 2015 and the supplementary one held on January 9, 2016 were marred by substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
    It also held that Sylva failed to prove the allegations of irregularities and corrupt practices raised in his petition.
    The court upheld the decision by election tribunal, which earlier affirmed Dickson’s victory.
    It noted that while Sylva’s case was  against the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the election held in Southern Ijaw Local Government on December 6, 2016, he failed to lead credible evidence to prove his case.
    Sylva had argued that INEC’s decision to cancel  the December 6, 2015 election in Southern Ijaw LG and reschedule it for January 9, 2016 was a breach of the provision of Section26(1( of the Electoral Act 2010.
    On whether election actually took place in Southern Ijaw LG on December 6, 2016, the appellate court held that the prosecution presented contradictory evidence in this regard.
    As against Sylva’s argument that INEC’s Resident Electoral Officers (REC) in the state lacked the power to have announced a cancellation of the election, the court held that Section 153(1)(f) of the 1st Schedule to the Constitution allows INEC to delegate its powers to any of its REC.
    It held that it was only INEC that could complain about how its REC exercised the so delegated powers.
    The court further held that by the evidence led by the appellant ( at the trial tribunal), it was clear that there was no conducive atmosphere under which a peaceful election could have been held in Southern Ijaw, and that the most reasonable thing in that circumstance was to postpone the election, which INEC did.
    It held that the burden was on Sylva to lead credible evidence to prove that election actually held in Southern Ijaw, which he failed to do.
    “Where a party seeks declaratory reliefs, it is the law that his case succeeds on the strength of his case and not the weakness of the defence.
    “A proper interpretation of Section 26(1) of the Electoral Act will accommodate what occurred in Southern Ijaw, where election was marred by violence.
    “There cannot be said to have been an election. The decision to conduct the election at a later date can be better interpreted as postponement, not cancellation.
    “The appellant, who asserted that there was election in Southern Ijaw LG on December 6, 2015 has the burden to prove the election and not the other way round,” the court said.
    The court faulted the decision by Sylva and his party to participate in the rescheduled election when they had protested INEC’s rescheduling of the election.
    It held that having participated in the rescheduled January 9, 2016 election, Sylva and his party have lost the right to challenge the propriety or otherwise of INEC’s decision to reschedule the election.
    On whether the tribunal was right to have held in favour of the respondents by virtue of the evidence led, the appellate court noted that although Sylva and his party were able to show some instances of irregularities, it was not sufficient to prove that such irregularities substantially tilted the result of the election in favour to the eventual winner.
    It also upheld the trial tribunal’s decision to delete names of some unnamed parties from the petition and to also delete some portions of the petition on the grounds that the appellants were unable to show how that decision worked injustice against them.
    “With the resolution of all the five issues against the appellants, I am of the view that this Appeal is devoid of merit. It is accordingly dismissed. Parties are to bear their costs,” Justice Bada said.
    The court also dismissed the two  cross appeals filed by Dickson and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which challenged the competence of Sylva’s candidacy for the election.
    Justice. Nonye Okoronkwo read the lead judgment in the appeal by Dickson marked: CA/A/EPT/482B/2016, while Justice Tunji  Awotoye read the lead judgment in the appeal by PDP marked: CA/A/EPT/482C/2016.
    The court, in holding that both appeals were unmeritorious, noted that issues about qualification were outside the jurisdiction of election tribunals.

  • Sylvas, APC urge Appeal Court to void Dickson’s election

    Former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) have appealed the July 26 judgment of the election petitions tribunal which upheld the victory of Seriake Dickson in the state governorship election.

    In the appeal filed before the Court of Appeal, Abuja, on August 14, Sylva faulted the tribunal judgment and raised 24 grounds of appeal in that regard.

    They argued that the tribunal misled itself, misapplied the law and came to wrong conclusion in its verdict.

    Sylva and APC asked the court to set aside the judgment and grant his reliefs as contained in the petition or the alternative reliefs, including cancellation of the election and ordering a fresh one.

    The ex-governor and his party argued that the tribunal erred in law when it held that the reasons given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the election was within the provision Section 26(1) of the Electoral Act (EA) 2010.

     

     

  • Tribunal upholds Dickson’s election

    Tribunal upholds Dickson’s election

    The Bayelsa State Governorship Electoral Petitions Tribunal on Tuesday upheld the victory of Seriake Disckson in the state governorship election.

    Dickson represented the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last year’s governorship election in Bayelsa.

    The tribunal dismissed a petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate,  Timipre Sylva, saying it lacked merit.

    A three-man panel of the tribunal led by Justice Kazeem Alogba, in dismissing the petition, held that Sylva and his party failed to prove their case with credible evidence.

    The tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the allegations of electoral offences, which they said affected the election outcome.

    It said the petition was not supported by sufficient proof and required standard.

    The panel said: “The petitioners failed to prove that the second respondent (Dickson) did not score the highest lawful votes.

    “Therefore the return of the second respondent by the Independent National Electoral Commission on January 10, 2016 was valid.”

     

  • Sylva to Dickson: Stop destabilising Bayelsa APC

    Sylva to Dickson: Stop destabilising Bayelsa APC

    Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, Tuesday, warned Governor Seriake Dickson against his alleged continual moves to destablise the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Sylva said Dickson, his rival in the last controversial governorship election in the state, was currently circulating falsehood against him and key members of the party to cause disaffection in APC.

    The former governor in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr.  Doifie Buokoribo, noted that the governor resorted to using discredited and suspended members of APC as moles to cause internal disaffection in the party and blackmail the party leaders.

    Sylva said Dickson’s devilish conspiracy against APC would always be exposed and demonised, adding that it was an effort in futility.

    He said: “Of late, Dickson and his party, Peoples Democratic Party, have re-enacted their pastime of spreading falsehood about APC and its leaders in Bayelsa State and trying to create dissension where none exists.

    “They had tried that before and during the last governorship election in the state. When they failed miserably, they turned to forces external to Bayelsa, but inside the election management body and armed militia community, which they used to steal the people’s votes.

    “After he was awarded victory, one would have thought that a man who ‘won’ election would concentrate on governance. But Dickson would not. Living under the shadow of fear of losing the stolen mandate, since APC filed a petition at the election tribunal, Dickson has applied every available mischief to try to destabilise the party and blackmail its leaders.

    “They have now procured the services of some discredited officials of APC, who were suspended recently. These renegades are being used by Dickson and PDP to spread wild, unsubstantiated allegations against Sylva and the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri.

    “Fabricating stories about Sylva and APC has proved to be more than just a passing fad for Dickson. It has become policy – the only ostensible policy of the administration since his swearing in. The latest email from Dickson’s media aide, Daniel Markson (dmb2co@yahoo.com), to some reporters last Sunday, 3 April at 16:24 hours, clearly show how the Dickson government throws caution to the wind in its haste to blackmail APC.

    “Dickson has since being awarded victory at the governorship election manifested understandable nervousness on the governorship seat. But there should be a limit to anxiety. He should stop his mission in futility and await the outcome of the electoral courts. Neither his nervousness nor his current mischievous publications can stop the wind of justice that is about to blow him out of his usurped seat.”

     

  • Bayelsa: INEC declares Dickson winner

    Bayelsa: INEC declares Dickson winner

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) has declared incumbent Bayelsa State Governor, Sarike Dickson as the winner of gubernatorial election held in the state.
    Dickson, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won with a total vote of 134,998 to defeat a former governor of the state and candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) , Timipre Sylva who had 86,852.

    Total numbers of registered voters for the election was 654, 492, while accredited voters were 242,114.
    More details later.

  • Tension as Dickson, Sylva engage in last battle 

    Tension as Dickson, Sylva engage in last battle 

    There was tension in Bayelsa State, Friday, as voters in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and over 101 polling units across six local councils, prepare to chose between Chief Timipre Sylva and Governor Seriake Dickson on Saturday.

    Since it started on December 5, the election has been a two-horse race between the former Governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva and the incumbent Governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Seriake Dickson.

    The December 5 governorship poll in the state was declared inconclusive with supplementary election fixed for today after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) controversially cancelled the results in Southern Ijaw.

    It was observed that Southern Ijaw has been soaked in tension in a build-up to the rerun.

    Hired militants and thugs were said to have laid siege in the council preparing to violently deliver their candidates.

    Some of the thugs who were reportedly brought into the council from neighboring states of Delta and Rivers were said to have clashed with indigenes of some Southern Ijaw communities.

    It was gathered that youths loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC) caught one of the youths in Peremabiri, who reportedly confessed he was hired by the PDP.

    A source in Peremabiri who spoke in confidence, said there was tension in the area and other parts of the council.

    “There is tension everywhere. In fact, we don’t know what the outcome of the election will be. There are signs that it will be marred by violence,” he said.

    It was, however, gathered that the council was surrounded by gunboats of the Operation Safe Conduct (OSC), a special military outfit drafted to monitor the poll, the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    Following threats of violence, the NSCDC, directed its operatives and officers to provide maximum security around all the oil installations in the state.

    The corps also deployed 1500 personnel to assist other security agencies in ensuring a hitch-free election.

    While deploying the operatives, the state Commandant, NSCDC, Mr. Desmond Agu, warned persons sent to protect public facilities against the temptation of leaving such installations to follow politicians.

    Agu said the Commandant-General had ordered that any NSCDC operatives found culpable of compromising the rules of engagement should be dismissed from the service.

    He said the officers and men of the command were deployed to provide security to critical public installations during the poll.

    He named such installations as facilities of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Oil and Gas Pipeline, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    He said: “On no account should they allow themselves to be used for other activities during this supplementary election in Southern Ijaw and environs as against their primary duties of keeping surveillance and protection over facilities in their custody.

    “Anyone found guilty to have contravened this strict order of the commandant-general will face a stringent disciplinary action of dismissal from service

    “I am not deploying you to go and die. Don’t attach yourself to any politician. I am commending you for the job you did in the last election because the people said if not for you, things would have got out of hand.”

    The commandant warned the people against destabilizing their state insisting that election is not a do or die affair.

    Also, the police command said it had beefed up security with increased foot, vehicular, and waterways patrols, as well as intensive aerial surveillance in all nooks and crannies of the state.

    A statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Asinim Butswat, asked all political parties and their contestants to desist from any act capable, of disrupting the electoral process.

    The statement said: “The Command in collaboration with other security agencies have synergized to create an enabling environment for the forthcoming re-run elections in Southern Ijaw LGA and other affected polling units.

    “VIPs are advised to desist from using security men to escort them to polling units on election date, as any violation to this order will not be tolerated.

    “Security agencies have been ordered to enforce the restrictions of movements, of boats fitted with two hundred (200) horse power engine and above, and all river craft activities in the state waterways, from 7pm to 7am Friday 8th – Sunday 10th January, 2016, respectively.

    “Any person or group of persons who violates this order will be arrested and prosecuted accordingly. Likewise, movement of persons, motor vehicles and tricycles will be restricted on the election date, in the entire state, from the hours of 6am to 6pm, only those on essential duties will be allowed to move.

    “The electorates in the affected areas are advised to come out and exercise their franchise by casting their votes for candidates of their choice.”

     

  • To spoil a poll

    To spoil a poll

    The Bayelsa State guber poll conjured the image of the red-blooded male. He is not distinguished by height or girth, although it helps. His distinction lies in the journey of his muscles. When shirtless, his torso is a work of art, as well as his abdominal region. For the well-fed and well-exercised, the red-blooded male presents a picture of primitive warior. Regions of his skin line up like boxes that some call six packs. Each pack tics, throbs and crackles.

    Above that vista of masculine ardour stands an unpredictable visage. It might look coy, retiring, menacing. The eyes may blaze or look fazed. The muscular message below tells the onlooker that the face may be deceptive and, like Shakespeare noted, “there is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” Some have faces that explode with violence and the muscles act it. Some have satiny looks but hoist blood and death, and you do not know such men until they are in charge of things.

    Unlike the puny case of Kogi State, you had to be a man in the electoral trenches of Bayelsa. But muscles were not enough. Guns. Bombs. Boats. They fed the red blood.

    They may be cocks, well feathered, cawing in primal rhythms and glowing with machismo. But without weapons, such men are effeminate in the electoral wars of the “Glory of all Lands.”

    When APC candidate Timipre Sylva gave a press briefing last week over the cancelled poll in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, he gave a hint of the boil in the Bayelsa waters. He said on a number of times, he had to place calls to the security forces to counter the goons ferrying ballot papers and unleashing mayhem. Waxing poetic, he said some of his calls died “like a candle in the wind.” His claim has not been denied. In Ekeremor, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobri, had to be rescued by security forces when thugs, apparently for the opposing PDP, barreled into his compound with guns and bombs.

    When the results of Ekeremor Local Government were announced, an APC member rose to protest on live television. The INEC officer motioned him to sit. At the same time the PDP representative also made a counter-claim of violence. The INEC man noted on live television that there was another forum for complaint.

    So, why did the INEC cancel the Southern Ijaw poll, and not Ekeremor, or Nembe or Sagbama? The law of course says an election can be cancelled in cases of violence and over-voting. If the election was cancelled on violence ground in Southern Ijaw, it was unfair to violence to respect it in one place and disrespect it in another. In the law, all violence is created equal, and should be punished accordingly. The law did not prescribe scale of violence.

    The poll also provided a clear irony. The PDP – and Seriake Dickson – was ahead in six of the seven local government results, but he manifested not only anxiety but lawlessness. The snag was that Southern Ijaw could wipe out his lead and give the victory to his opponent, Sylva. He committed two wrongs that, in a normal society, he should have stepped out of the race or/ and be disqualified from the contest.

    One, he visited Southern Ijaw’s capital and also the INEC office. The army, in its press briefing on Saturday, alluded to it, and claimed that his presence ratcheted up the violence in Southern Ijaw. The governor had no problem with the elections holding in his strongholds. When it got to Southern Ijaw, he quilted and turned into a lawless man in government house. He became a retailer of violence.

    Two, the governor also went live on Bayelsa Radio to incite the people of the state against the Federal Government. If Nnamdi Kanu can be called a subversive for invoking Biafra, Seriake Dickson with his imperial swagger and walking stick, was Kanu’s counterpart in government. He provoked tribe, calling the Ijaw nation to rise against the plot by the centre to disenfranchise them. Indeed some people responded and came to the street, especially some women in the colour of mourning clothes. The police had to caution him and remind the people of the state that such a rally contravened the electoral law.

    If Dickson were charged to court today, he would not escape the law. What he did was criminal and in contempt of the tranquil principle of society and the dictates of the Nigerian constitution. He acted the alpha male, the red-blooded goon in official toga. He exhibited the Neanderthal spirit of the ruffian in office. He was a governor as caveman.

    Southern Ijaw, according to the APC, was their stronghold. Sylva claims he has won the election because he believes the votes from that densely populated area could wipe out about 30,000 votes that Dickson had over him in other local governments. In the United States, anytime a Democrat wins a presidential election, he often lags until the California numbers come in. That state can wipe out aggregate votes from the south. That was the scenario APC thought was emerging with Southern Ijaw. Why did the Resident Electoral Officer announce the cancellation instead of the returning officer? The returning officer was not reported sick, captured or fired.

    The new INEC boss must avoid the image incompetent and bumbling umpire with inconclusive elections.

    Elections are not supposed to be deathbeds of innocence or the celebration of red-blooded males. It does no glory to Bayelsa nor to Nigeria that in the 20th century, it’s not the vote of the hand but the hand of violence that determines the victor. It is even worse when the umpire presents itself without evenhandedness. Democracy is not for Thomas Hobbes’ state of nature, or for Nietzsche’s superman. It is for John Locke’s spirit of equity.

    The red-blooded men are good when they guard us and foster our virtues with their strength. “Only the weak are cruel,” noted Leo  Buscaglia, also know as Dr. Love. “Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.” They are not strong when they bully. Playwright Aristophanes moaned the Peloponnesian War and wrote a play in which the women withdrew sexual favours from their men in order to force them to stop violence. The play known as Lysistrata is not only good for Bayelsa but for Nigeria. To rein in the red-blooded male, take away his libido. It worked in Aristophanes in triggering negotiations about war. When a man needs weapons rather than words, he admits he has lost the argument.

    In Bound to Violence, Yambo Ouologuem laments in his novel Africa’s fascination with waste and spoils. In his play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams turns red-blooded Stanley into a mutant soul and rapist. We don’t want that in our election. But fair is fair. If INEC cancels the polls in one place, it has to do same elsewhere. If it tolerates it in one place as it has done in Yenagoa, Nembe and Ekeremor, its conscience should allow it accept the polls raked in at Southern Ijaw. Democracy fails when it is not fair.

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  • Tension in Bayelsa as Dickson calls for protest during collation

    Tension in Bayelsa as Dickson calls for protest during collation

    Tension gripped Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital as residents waited for the arrival of results of the governorship election from two local government areas of Nembe and Southern Ijaw.

    Security was beefed up in the state capital with four Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) deployed round the state collation centre.

    Detachment of ant-bomb squad, anti-riot policemen and soldiers took over some strategic areas in Yenagoa to forestall breakdown of law and order.

    The Governor of the state, Mr. Seriake Dickson, was live on the state owned Radio Bayelsa protesting the electoral process at time he was leading APC with over 28,000 votes.

    Dickson asked residents to hit the streets at 2pm for a rally to protest what was happening at the collation centre and vowed to lead the protest.

    The governor who fielded questions from listeners said: “There will be a rally to resist what is happening now. It is clear to me that security services have become an army of occupation”.

  • Bayelsa: Sylva accuses PDP leaders of sponsoring banditry

    Bayelsa: Sylva accuses PDP leaders of sponsoring banditry

    The governorship candidate of the APC in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, has accused the leaders of PDP in the state of sponsoring banditry during Saturday’s governorship election in the state.

    Sylva at his coastal Okpoama hometown in Brass LGA of Bayelsa state also called on INEC to look into the problems associated with card readers.

    Although, the card reader read the former governor’s PVC successfully in record time, but failed to read the PVCs of some other voters.

    Sylva said the APC in Bayelsa had told the police before the election that PDP leaders in the state and officials of Bayelsa government were stockpiling arms for the election.

    He said contrary to the claim by Governor Seriake Dickson of the PDP, election calmly and peacefully took place in his LGA.

    Sylva also lamented attack on the house of the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri in Ekeremor, the headquarters of Ekeremor LGA of Bayelsa State.

  • Bayelsa poll: Sylva condemns violent attacks

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, has condemned the attacks on him and his supporters by suspected thugs in the state.

    At least four journalists from The Nation, The Punch and The Guardian newspapers (names withheld) narrowly escaped being killed by gunshots fired by thugs on Friday.

    Sylva, who spoke through the Director, Media and Publicity of Sylva-Igiri Campaign Organisation, Chief Nathan Egba, condemned the armed thugs, whom he accused of causing havoc in eight local government areas of the state during the election.

    He said: “Four journalists on the train of Chief Sylva were missing in Odioma for several hours after the gunshots from thugs. It took the efforts of the JTF (Operation Pulo Shield) and local vigilance group to rescue the journalists from their hiding late night of Friday.

    “The unknown faces now in most of the riverine communities of Bayelsa State have been terrorising the people with gunshots to scare people away from the polling units.”