APC, PDP tango over Supreme Court judgment on Bayelsa

 

• Nyesom-Wike weighs in, warns Oshiomhole to steer clear

 

BY OUR EDITOR

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are currently locked in a war of words over Thursday’s Supreme Court judgment nullifying the victory of APC governor-elect, David Lyon.

Lyon was looking forward to being sworn-in Friday as governor of Bayelsa State, but the Supreme Court cut short his expectation when it ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw his Certificate of Return, effectively nullifying his victory at the November 16, 2019 Bayelsa governorship election.

The Supreme Court had ruled that the APC deputy governorship candidate, Degi-Eremienyo, was not qualified as a candidate in the election.

The court upheld the November 12, 2019 judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which had disqualified Degi-Eremienyo for submitting forged certificates to INEC.

The court ruled Degi-Eremienyo’s disqualification had infected the joint ticket with which he and the governorship candidate, Lyon, ran for and won the November 16, 2019 election.

National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, reacting to the Supreme Court judgment, declared that the candidate of the PDP, Senator Douye Diri, cannot be sworn in on Friday as Bayelsa Governor because he did not meet the requirement of the Supreme Court.

At a press conference in Abuja, Oshiomhole declared that “Nobody will be sworn in on Friday as the new governor in Bayelsa state.”

Oshiomhole said the Supreme Court judgment did not order that the PDP governorship candidate should be sworn in. “In this case nobody apart from David Lyon met the desired spread as expressed by the Supreme Court.

READ: Supreme Court nullifies APC’s governorship victory in Bayelsa

“The next candidate who happens to be a PDP candidate does not have one-quarter of the votes cast in that election,” Oshiomhole fumed.

But the PDP would not have any of Oshiomhole’s vituperations. The party described the APC chairman’s outburst as “empty and inconsequential ranting”.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement Thursday warned Oshiomhole to steer clear of Bayelsa State as his apparent plots to allegedly trigger violence in the state had failed.

Ologbondiyan said, “The people of Bayelsa State know as a fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission under our laws, cannot take instructions from any individual, let alone a factional national chairman of a political party like the APC.

“The PDP, as a law-abiding party, counsels Oshiomhole to rein in himself and desist from all designs against Bayelsa State, her people and government.

“The PDP also calls on the people of Bayelsa State to remain calm as their mandate has been restored and cannot be taken away by any individual.”

Also, the Rivers State Governor, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, called on the Federal Government to call Oshiomhole to order, saying that the APC chairman lacked the power to make pronouncements after the Supreme Court had ruled on the Bayelsa matter.

Speaking in Port Harcourt Thursday, the governor said, “The Federal Government should warn Oshiomhole to stop making remarks that will destabilise Nigeria. What he is doing in Edo State is not proper and he should not bring it to the rest of the Niger Delta.”

“Who is Oshiomhole to determine who has spread in a state? Supreme Court has made a ruling. It is unfortunate for Oshiomhole to come forward to say that nobody will be sworn in,” Wike added.