Bayelsa Guber: Lokpobiri threatens Lyon’s candidacy as court orders substituted service

It is not only in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the choice of a gubernatorial candidate is a matter for the courts. A former Minister of State for Agriculture in the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State has dragged the party and two others before a Federal High Court in Yenagoa.

Senator Heineken Lokpobiri wants to be declared the governorship candidate instead of Lyon David Pereworinimi put forward by the party for the November 16 gubernatorial election.

In the PDP, a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Timi Alaibe, is in court to stop the party’s choice, Senator Douye Diri.

The former Minister in the suit is praying the court for an order setting aside the nomination of one Lyon David Pereworinimi as the governorship candidate in the forthcoming election on the ground that he did not win the September 4 primary poll of APC

In the court action instituted on his behalf by Mr Fitzgerald Olorogun, the former Minister claimed to have won the September 4 governorship primary election of the party with a majority lawful votes of 111, 439 with one Aganaba Stephen coming second with 5,426, Ebitimi Amgbare clinching third position with 638 votes and Lyon David Pereworinimi came fifth with 325 votes.

In the originating summons, Lokpobiri applied for an order of perpetual injunction restraining APC, its officers, agents and privies from treating, presenting or holding out Lyon to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the party’s candidate for the election.

The plaintiff also sought an order of perpetual injunction stopping INEC, its officers, agents and privies from accepting or further accepting, publishing or further publishing David Lyon as the flag bearer and another order barring the electoral body from excluding him as the APC candidate.

Besides, the governorship aspirant sought another order to stop Lyon from parading or further parading, presenting or further presenting himself as APC candidate and a similar order against INEC to stop it from accepting, recognising, or dealing with Lyon or putting his image on the ballot paper in the name of APC as the party’s governorship candidate.

Lokpobiri wants the court to compel INEC to treat him as the lawful candidate of APC and to accord him the rights, privileges and perquisites of a candidate of APC in the gubernatorial election.

In a 45 paragraph affidavit in support of the suit, the plaintiff averred that a governorship primary election committee was constituted by the National Secretariat of the APC under the chairmanship of Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, and that the committee in compliance with directive of the party conducted the primary poll through direct primary procedures.

The plaintiff who personally deposed to the affidavit, claimed that the primary election was conducted throughout the state with the involvement of local government and ward chairmen of the party with six governorship aspirants including himself participating.

At the end of the primary election, Lokpobiri claimed that he won majority of lawful votes in five local governments comprising Ekeremor with 48,113, Sagbama with 24,890, Ogbia, 13,349, Yenagoa, 18,258 and Kolokuma/Opokuma where he scored 6,809, bringing his total score to 111,439 while David Lyon unlawfully declared as winner scored only 325 votes.

The plaintiff averred that instead of Yobe State Governor to supervise collation and declaration of result in line with APC guidelines, one Emmanuel Ocheja allegedly announced false results without any collation and made Lyon a purported winner of the September 4 primary election.

The ex minister further averred that local government and ward chairmen co-opted into the conduct of the primary election all swore to affidavits at the end of the collation of the results to confirm the authenticity and validity of the results in the five local governments while violence prevented declaration of results in the remaining three local governments.

Plaintiff who attached results of the primary election and affidavits of the collation officers to the originating summons claimed that he protested the unconstitutional announcement of David Lyon as winner of the primary election to an appeal committee of APC on the primary poll but did not get positive response.

The governorship aspirant also pleaded the report of security agencies who monitored the primary election along with INEC officials to confirm collation of results in the five local governments.

He therefore asked the court to hold that the APC, David Lyon and INEC who are the three respondents in the suit cannot breach the 1999 constitution, the Electoral Act 2010 and the APC guidelines to make unlawful declaration and nomination of Lyon as flag bearer of the party.

Lokpobiri claimed to have purchased nomination and expression of interest forms with over N22M and was screened and cleared to participate in the primary election.

Meanwhile Justice Jane Inyang has ordered substituted service of the originating summons on APC David Lyon and INEC through pasting of same on their respective offices.

The order of the court followed complaints by plaintiff counsel that Lyon who is 2nd defendant in the suit has been evading service of the court process since it was filed.

Justice Inyang while granting the ex-parte application argued by Olorogun ordered that the court papers be pasted on the campaign office of Lyon along Isaac Boro Expressway and that of INEC at its office along Swali road.

The plaintiff counsel had in the ex-parte application complained that Lyon was evading service of court processess along with the two other respondents..

The Judge has fixed October 14 for the parties to appear in court for hearing of the matter.