Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo on Friday asked the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division to dismiss the alleged certificate forgery suit filed against him by the Governorship candidate of the Accord Party, Mr Ebizimo Diriyai.
Diriyai is challenging the August judgment of the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that dismissed his petition challenging the outcome of the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
Responding to the appeal on Friday, the deputy governor informed the five-man panel of Justices of the appellate court that the case of the Accord Party on alleged certificate forgery was statute-barred, having not been filed within 14 days required by section 285 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Ewhrudjakpo, through his lead counsel, Chief Chukwuma Machukwu-Umeh (SAN), informed the court that what the appellant took to the state election petition tribunal was a pre-election matter but erroneously dressed it as a post-election matter.
He said that in compliance with relevant laws, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), published names of Bayelsa State governorship candidates and their running mates 60 days before the election for claims and objections from the general public.
Machukwu-Umeh stated that in breach of the law, the Accord Party’s governorship candidate did not file any claim or objection within 14 days allowed by law but only woke up in February, four months after the election had been conducted and the winner made public.
Arguing further, Machukwu-Umeh stated that being a pre-election matter, the appellant ought to have filed his case at a Federal High Court; High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) or High Court of a state.
Insisting that the appellant no longer has a live case against the deputy governor, the senior lawyer urged the court to dismiss the appeal in its entirety for lacking in merit.
Similarly, INEC, Governor Douye Diri and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who are the other respondents in the suit urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal for being incompetent and a waste of the court’s time.
They in addition prayed the court to uphold the judgment of the tribunal which had earlier dismissed the Accord’s governorship candidate’s petition alongside three others.
After taking arguments of counsel in the matter, the panel presided over by Justice Adriza Mshella, announced that judgment is reserved and date of the delivery will be communicated to parties in the suit.
The three-man panel of Justices of the Bayelsa State Election Petition Tribunal had in August, dismissed the petition of Diriyai, on the grounds that allegations of certificate forgery against the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo was not proved by the petitioner.
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