In the Bayelsa State governorship election case in Abuja, the All Progressives Congress and their candidate, Timipre Sylva, presented 52 witnesses, including former Commissioner of Police Akeem Alausa, to support their case.
The APC and its candidate, Sylva, are contesting the re-election of Governor Duoye Diri and his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrujakpo. Governor Diri was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after securing 175,196 votes compared to Sylva’s 110,108 votes.
Unsatisfied with the outcome, Sylva and the APC took their case to the tribunal, challenging the declaration of Governor Diri as the winner of the November 11, 2023, governorship election. They argued that elections were conducted in some polling units across three local governments—Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, and Nembe—where INEC and other respondents claimed there was no election. They believe that including the results from these local governments would declare them the rightful winners of the election.
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During the proceedings, a former Commissioner of Police provided testimony in support of the petitioners and submitted exhibits as evidence. While being cross-examined by INEC’s lawyer, Alausa admitted that his tenure as the police chief in Bayelsa State during the election was marked by protests. He mentioned that another senior police officer, John Babangida, was deployed to replace him, but he was later reinstated to Bayelsa State after the protests. Alausa denied allegations of being an ally of Sylva.
During further cross-examination by Diri’s lawyer, Chris Uche, SAN, Alausa stated that he testified based on a letter from the office of the Inspector-General of Police. He admitted that his witness statement on oath was prepared for him by his O.C. Legal, whose name he did not mention. Alausa clarified that the documents he tendered were from policemen stationed at polling units on election day, and he was the author of those documents.
He acknowledged that although 16 political parties participated in the governorship election, he only made a witness statement on oath for the APC, focusing on Nembe, Ogbia, and Southern Ijaw LGAs where election results were being contested.
Responding to questions from the PDP’s lawyer, Oyetibo, SAN, the witness admitted that a Prado Jeep was donated to the Bayelsa State Police Command during his tenure, and upon his removal from the state, he took the vehicle with him. However, he returned the Prado Jeep following a directive from the Inspector-General, prompted by a letter from Diri’s office.
A star witness for the petitioners, Denis Otiotio, under cross-examination by INEC lawyer, Charles Edosanwan, SAN, admitted that none of the names on the 42 voter registers were ticked for election purposes. However, Otiotio maintained that the voter registers shown to him by INEC were not the ones used during the gubernatorial election. The APC witness, however, did not submit any other voter registers to counter INEC’s claims.
The tribunal admitted 42 different voter registers, tendered by INEC from various polling units of Nembe, Ogbia, and Southern Ijaw LGAs, to support its stance that the election was not held in those areas due to violence.
At the end of the proceedings, counsel for the petitioners, Ogwu Onoja, SAN, announced the closure of the hearing in the petition. Justice Adekunle Adeleye scheduled March 4 for INEC, Diri, the deputy governor, Ewhrujakpo, and the PDP to present their defense.
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