Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and governorship aspirant in the September 3, 2019, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Ndutimi Alaibe, has decided to sheathe his sword, having congratulated and acknowledged Governor Douye Diri as the elected governor of Bayelsa State.
Alaibe, a front line aspirant in the PDP, had dragged Diri, his party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court over what he insisted was a ‘flawed process’ that produced Diri as the party’s candidate.
He had lost both at the Federal High Court and the Appeal Court and his appeal at the Supreme Court was dismissed following its withdrawal by his counsel, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe, after the chairman of the panel of justices, Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour ruled that the appeal cannot be classified as a pre-election matter but internal party affair which the court lacked jurisdiction.
Alaibe, in a statement by his personal assistant, Ogio Enize, breaking his silence over the legal process, noted that ‘while our supporters may feel justifiably disappointed by the outcome of the case based on the supremacy of the Court’s pronouncement, we have accepted it in good faith, however painful.’
According to him: ‘We feel justified that from the trial court to the apex court, the repulsive processes that led to the primary were never endorsed by any of the courts.’
Alaibe, who noted that in spite of the outcome of the case, ‘we feel satisfied by our action because when criminality is ignored or allowed to continue unchallenged those responsible for such actions and even the uninformed observers could accept it as a way of life,’ appealed for calm from his supporters.
‘The Supreme Court has spoken and, as law-abiding citizens, we must at this point move on and draw the curtain on this particular issue. We have followed the due process of the law and can go no further,’ he said.
Reiterating that the court action was not directed at any particular individual or group of persons but against a process that he took issue with, Alaibe said that ‘our joy is that we refused to keep silence in the face of tyranny.’
‘Therefore, in the true spirit of political brotherhood and friendship, irrespective of the uncharitable processes and the outcome of our legal action, Chief Ndutimi Alaibe, hereby, congratulates and extends his unreserved hand of fellowship to Senator Douye Diri on his emergence as the Governor of Bayelsa,’ he added.
