For Sylva, A Shot In The Arm

Opposition to Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa is wilting as one of the three top members who opposed his candidature for the re-run of the state’s gubernatorial election withdraws from the case in court

By Nnamdi Felix/Abuja

The Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timipre Silva seems to be wooing indigenes of the state with the robust prosecution of socio-political programmes. Significantly, he is apparently convincing  his kinsmen who had faulted his nomination by the Peoples Democratic Party in the last re-run held last May.

This much manifested on Tuesday 28 October, when the case filed by three top members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who had opposed the presentation of Sylva as the party’s candidate in the re-run of the governorship in the state ordered by the  Appeals Tribunal, came up for hearing. This was subsequent to the appelate court’s nullification of the gubernatorial election conducted by the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, on 14 April 2007.

The plaintiffs, Chief Victor Ebiyekon, Chief Oweiegbe and Chief Dengiye Ubarugu, in their address before a Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday 28 October, argued on their behalf by their counsel, Mr. Onome Okodia, alleged among other issues, that Sylva polled 35 votes out of the over 2,300 votes cast at the primaries and as such, did not qualify to fly the party’s flag at the election last April. They argued that the power to monitor political parties vested in the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, made it incumbent on the electoral body not to accept an ineligible candidate who did not emerge through the right process. They relied on provisions of the third schedule, part 1, particularly paragraph 15 (b) and (c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to urge the court to declare that the governor was not validly nominated by the Peoples Democratic Party for the re-run election.

Chief Sylva, in his preliminary objection to the originating summons, urged the court not to heed prayers of the plaintiffs. His lawyer, Mr. Abang Odok Ogar, in his submission cited a recent Supreme Court decision in Ehinlanwo Vs Olusola Oke (2008) to support the governor’s case. In that matter, the apex court held that where a candidate has been nominated by a political party, either by primary election, selection, appointment or a combination of any of these means, the court lacked jurisdiction to enquire into the reasons or otherwise of the nomination.

The apex court went on to hold in that case that except in circumstances where the party seeks to substitute the candidate so nominated with another candidate would the court demand for the party to give cogent and verifiable reason for the substitution.

Mr. Ogar reiterated the position of the law on the issue of party nomination and argued that it is within the confines of the political party to decide who to sponsor in any election.  According to Mr. Ogar: “It remains the absolute jurisdiction of the political party, in this case, the Peoples Democratic Party, to decide who it sponsors for any election and nobody else.” He further stated that the relief sought by the plaintiffs originated from the nomination of Chief Timipre Silva through whatever means, by the Peoples Democratic Party. He, therefore, urged the court to strike out the matter as the court lacked the jurisdiction to enquire into the powers of the party as regards nomination of its candidate.

The Peoples Democratic Party also took up arms against the members who dragged the party to court over what the party regards as purely a family matter. In a preliminary objection filed by the party’s National Legal Adviser; Chief Olusola Oke, the party contended that the issue of nomination of candidates for any election by a political party does not fall within the contemplation of the court. He argued that the jurisdiction of the court does not extend to questioning the nomination of a candidate by a political party.

“The issue of nomination and presentation of candidates is a domestic affair which this court cannot look into,” Oke maintained. He also expressed the irritation of the party over the action of the plaintiffs who, he claimed, failed to exhaust the internal resolution mechanism set up by the party to address grievances before the case was instituted at the court.

He informed the court that the plaintiffs are estoped from maintaining this action having waited for more than one year from the date the cause of action allegedly arose. Chief Oke urged the court to strike out the suit on grounds of jurisdiction or dismiss it for lack of merit.

Governor Sylva’s case also got a boost when Chief Agoro Oweiegbe, the 2nd plaintiff in the matter, in a dramatic move, applied to withdraw from the suit. Chief Oweiegbe notified the court that his withdrawal was based on what he termed as the “good work” of the governor in improving the lot of Bayelsa indigenes. He expressed satisfaction with the developmental efforts of the Governor in the state, adding that the results are manifesting in the socio-economic transformation witnessed in the state. He, therefore, applied that his name be struck out from the list of plaintiffs in the suit so as to encourage Chief Sylva to pursue his developmental programmes for the state without distractions.

Chief Oweiegbe’s withdrawal from the suit leaves Chief Victor Ebiyekon and Chief Dengiye Ubarugu as the 1st and 2nd plaintiffs respectively.

Justice Adamu Bello adjourned to Monday, 19 January 2009 for judgment.