APC to Close Case Against Governor Diri’s Election Victory in Bayelsa State

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to conclude its case challenging the victory of Governor Duoye Diri in the November 11, 2023, governorship election in Bayelsa State.

The party, along with its gubernatorial candidate, Timipre Sylva, presented additional witnesses on Thursday to support their claims that Diri did not win the majority of lawful votes cast in the election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Diri and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winners of the election, with Diri securing 175,196 votes against Sylva’s 110,108 votes.

Sylva and the APC, dissatisfied with the results, approached the tribunal to challenge Diri’s victory.

They initially indicated their intention to call 224 witnesses to support their allegations but, after presenting four witnesses, requested an adjournment to call more witnesses.

The Bayelsa Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, chaired by Justice Adekunle Adeleye, granted the adjournment, setting Monday and Tuesday next week for the continuation of the trial.

The petitioners argue that the election was not conducted in some polling units, and a winner was declared at these units.

They also claim that INEC improperly disregarded results at the ward and local government levels.

If the cancelled results are restored, they contend, they would emerge as the rightful winners.

However, the respondents, particularly INEC, maintain that the election in three local governments—Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, and Nembe—did not hold due to incidents of material diversion and electoral process disruptions over alleged BVAS machine bypasses

They have submitted Form EC40G and certified true copies of the results to prove that the election results presented by the petitioners are forged.