Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Bayesla State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja yesterday held that Senators Douye Diri and Lawrence Ewhruojakpo were validly elected as governor and deputy governor of the state respectively.
The tribunal reached its decision after holding that they were eminently qualified to contest the state governorship election. In the final analysis, the tribunal dismissed the three petitions challenging the election of Governor Diri and Ewhirudjakpo for lacking in merit.
Reacting to the judgment, the deputy governor, Senator Ewhirudjakpo, hailed the judiciary for standing on the path of justice. He described the judgment as a vindication of the wishes and desires of the people of Bayesla State as expressed in the election and extended an olive branch to his political opponents to join hands with them to build the state, noting, “we are all winners and the victory belongs to us all.”
The dismissed petitions were filed by the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Onwei Tongo, Ibiene Stephen of the United Peoples Congress (UPC) and Vijah Opuama of the Liberation Movement Party.
The three petitioners anchored their case on the grounds that the governor and his deputy lacked the requisite statutory qualifications to contest in the election that brought them into office
But in a unanimous judgment, the three-member tribunal headed by Justice Ibrahim Sirajo dismissed their petitions for lacking in merit.
Delivering judgment in the petition filed by Tongo, the tribunal held that the petitioner failed to prove the allegation of certificate falsification against the Ewhrudjakpo beyond reasonable doubt.
The judgement read by Justice Sikiru Owodunni, upheld the objections by the Diri, Ewhrudjakpo, and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in holding that the petition lacked merit and constituted “unnecessary waste of time of the court.”