The Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, convened in Abuja, upheld Governor Douye Diri’s election win on Monday, May 27.
Led by Justice Adekunle Adeleye, a three-man panel unanimously dismissed the petition lodged by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Timipre Sylva. The tribunal ruled that the petition lacked merit as the petitioners failed to provide substantial evidence supporting their claims against the outcome of the Bayelsa poll.
The tribunal struck out all the additional evidence as well as statements on oath of some of the petitioners’ witnesses for being incompetent.
The tribunal held that the petitioners failed to file their additional proof of evidence within the 21 days allowed by law.
The tribunal held that the decision by Sylva and his party to file their additional proof of evidence and statement on oath of witnesses, long after they had filed the petition, was “tantamount to a surreptitious attempt to amend the case of the petitioners”.
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