Francis Ottah Agbo
It is no longer news that the Supreme Court has fixed Wednesday, February 26, 2020 for the review of its judgment sacking the former Governor-elect of Bayelsa State, Chief David Lyon and the ordering of INEC to issue a certificate of return to the PDP governorship candidate in the November 2019 gubernatorial election, Senator Duoye Diri. Though Diri and his deputy, Barr. Lawrence Ewhrujakpo have since been sworn in and have since hit the ground running, the APC have gone to the Supreme Court to mislead their lordships on the need to reverse themselves! In Nigeria, the apex court has never reversed itself but, in the US, it was on record that the final court reversed itself on two occasions. But the two cases are different from the Bayelsa case in which the justices relied on iron-clad evidences to disqualify the APC candidates from the polls! I beleive upturning the incontrovertible Bayelsa judgement will be like forcing the camel through the eye of the needle. In other words, the APC return to the apex Court for a review, will only amount to an academic exercise, and if care is not taken, the apex court will fine APC for attempting to make it blow hot and cold on the same matter at the same time! The landmark verdict has shaken up the Nigerian political landscape. It is a significant political and jurisprudential event in the history of Nigeria. The verdict was profound in its interpretation of the law and implication for democracy in Nigeria.
Those outside the political system of Bayelsa State and thus unaware of the brigandage and violence with which a coalition of desperate politicians foisted the APC candidate on the state are justified in expressing surprise and consternation at this development.
For those with intimate knowledge of what transpired before and during the election, however, the supreme court verdict did not come entirely as a shock. If anything, it came as a logical, expected, and comprehensive redress for a grave injustice done to the people of Bayelsa State by those who intended to capture the state at all costs even at the expense of the Bayelsan blood!
On election day last year, the people sacrificed their time and energy to try to exercise their franchise in the hope that their electoral will would prevail only to have their franchise stripped away from them by an unprecedented military occupation directed from afar and coordinated by the APC. Utilizing the instruments of violence and repressive state apparatus, mobilized by state actors, APC leadership, the Federal Government and its agencies, were determined to take over Bayelsa state by any means. They sowed chaos and threw the state into an orgy of violence. The result was a tragic electoral event in which many innocent Bayelsans were killed while many others were maimed, brutalized, and disenfranchised especially in Nembe, Yenagoa, Ogbia and Southern Ijaw LGAs! In their desperation to capture Bayelsa, the APC failed to do due diligence in the screening of their candidates, the basis for which the apex court disqualified Lyon and his deputy, Senator Degi or is it Adegi!
For those in the know of these events, the Supreme Court judgment represents a comeuppance for those who sought to destroy the state in their quest to forcefully and violently take it over as a political fiefdom. The judgment is also token justice for the families of those who paid the ultimate price during the electoral reign of terror visited on the state.
For former Governor Seriake Dickson, the judgment was a deserved and welcome vindication. His imprint is on this momentous development. Were it not for his remarkable restraint and maturity, those who invaded Bayelsa to conquer the state politically would have plunged it, into a complete anarchy from which the heart beat of the Izon nation would not be able to recover.
Against the entreaties of his political allies and supporters, the former Countryman Governor calmly stood firm and declined to authorize a tit-for-tat response to the reign of terror, before, during and after the November 16, 2019 elections. Dickson discouraged PDP supporters from retaliating in the face of provocation and attacks for which he is hardly commended.
As Bayelsans celebrate the restoration of the people’s electoral will, Dickson’s wisdom in sheathing his sword to protect the good, innocent people of Bayelsa from the scorched earth violence the APC had wished for stands in sharp relief. This uncommon display of restraint and political wisdom set the stage for the legal victory of the PDP ticket. For if the Dickson Restoration Government had succumbed to the provocations from the other side and allowed his supporters to defend their turf from the external invasion, the story would have been different. Dickson put the peace of the state ahead of politics. While APC and its leadership invested in savage violence, Dickson sought redress, justice, and restoration through the legal and celestial routes. And it paid off with the supreme court judgment.
The APC won the battle but, the ordinary people on whose thighs sovereignty lies, have won the war, and nobody born of a woman can reverse it.
I also believe the invasion of the state in the name of election was designed to humiliate Dickson personally. As an ally of Governor Diri, he was particularly targeted. As a seasoned lawyer, he remained focused squarely on the legality of his actions and those of his allies. His faith in the capacity of the judiciary to right wrongs saw him, Senator Diri, and their supporters through the rough months that followed the election. Without sounding repetitive, that belief in the ameliorative capacity of our legal institutions has paid off. Those who doubted former Governor Dickson’s sagacity in pursuing what appeared to be a far-fetched legal option are today humbled by the vindication of that decision. Those who also mock him for being the Great White Shark that weathers the storm even at the zenith of conspiracy now know why he is the Ofurumapepe!
It should be noted that the conspiracy of the APC, the Federal Government, and the Minister of Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, did not just materialize on election day. The plan to forcefully wrest the state away from the PDP was carefully planned in phases. It was a desperate plot. This desperation led the conspirators to commit two fatal political errors. They did not conduct a primary to select their party’s gubernatorial flagbearer as mandated by the Electoral Act. They also did not properly vet their candidates, allowing the Deputy Governorship candidate, Senator Degi, to submit questionable certificates.
Dickson observed these acts of desperation, keenly aware of their legal ramifications. With his guidance, the PDP raised these issues in pre-election lawsuits and subsequently in post-election litigation, but the road to justice is often slow and convoluted. Nonetheless, Dickson, Diri, the PDP, and their supporters persisted.
Their persistence has now yielded a resounding victory for the people of Bayelsa state, Senator Diri, his deputy which promises to usher in a new era of consolidated and restored prosperity! Any attempt to mislead their lordships to reverse themselves on Wednesday, will stifle jurisprudence and our fledgling democracy! As the song of the Dickson restoration touch ended on February 14, Diri’s prosperity melody continues!
• Agbo, a journalist, is member, House of Representatives.