The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the re-election of Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, dismissing an appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva.
The appellate court held that the appeal was incompetent and constituted an abuse of court process.
In a unanimous decision, the three-man panel of Justices led by Justice Adekunle Adeleye, held that the appeal was without merit and upheld the earlier judgement of the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which declined to nullify the outcome of the gubernatorial poll.
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The tribunal had held that the petitioners failed to adduce any credible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations they raised against the outcome of the governorship poll.
It struck out as incompetent, all the additional proof of evidence as well as statements on oath of some of the witnesses that testified for the petitioners.
The Court of Appeal held that the decision of Sylva and his party to file their additional proof of evidence and statement on oath of witnesses, long after they had filed the petition, was “tantamount to a surreptitious attempt to amend the case of the petitioners.”
The appellate court also held that the issue of Ewhrudjakpo’s educational qualification was previously determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, and that the tribunal took judicial notice of the fact that the 3rd Respondent, Ewhrudjakpo, is a legal practitioner, and was satisfied that he was eminently qualified to contest the election.
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The Court of Appeal further held that the prayers of the petitioners were contradictory, adding that Sylva and APC did not tender any electoral material to show that any irregularity occurred during the election.
It held that the petitioners were unable to discharge the burden of proof that was placed on them by the law, stressing that they failed to show, polling units by polling units, the particulars of the non-compliance they alleged and how it substantially affected the outcome of the election.
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