POLITICS
Bayelsa poll: Court dismisses APC aspirant’s suit seeking Sylva’s disqualification
Bayelsa poll: Court dismisses APC aspirant’s suit seeking Sylva’s disqualification
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, dismissed a suit seeking the disqualification of Mr Timipre Sylva from contesting the Nov. 11 Bayelsa governorship poll.
Delivering judgment, Justice Inyang Ekwo, held that the plaintiff, Mrs Ogbomade Johnson failed to prove the case upon preponderance of evidence as required by law.
Justice Ekwo said that Johnson failed to prove her case that that the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not conduct valid governorship primary election from which Sylva emerged as the party’s candidate.
The judge rejected the police report relied on by the plaintiff, and held that it was not the duty of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to monitor the conduct of political parties’ primary elections.
“Therefore, Exhibits A23, A24, A25/26, and A27 of the plaintiff are of no moment. They are products of illegality having not been authorised by the Electoral Act, 2022 and the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“The conduct of party primaries is not a police case unless and until a criminal act is committed in the process of such party primaries,” he said.
Justice Ekwo agreed that by the evidence presented by Sylva and the APC, he was convinced that the party held a valid primary election.
“Upon considering the facts of this case and the documentary evidence tendered by the plaintiff, I find that the plaintiff’s case is weak and has not been proved upon preponderance of evidence as required by law.
“The plaintiff has failed to give this court such evidence that is capable of creating a doubt in the mind of the court that the governorship primary election of the 1st defendant in Bayelsa did not hold on April 14or even if it did hold, it was not conducted in accordance with the party’s guidelines as stated in Exhibit H of the 1st defendant.
“I find upon the evidence before me that the governorship primary of the 1st defendant was conducted on April 14 in accordance with the party’s guidelines
“I find in the end that the plaintiff has not proved this case upon preponderance of evidence as required by law. The case therefore fails for lacking in merit.
“Consequently, I make an order dismissing the case of the plaintiff for lacking in merit.
“This is the order of this court,” Justice Ekwo declared.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/575/2023, was filed by Mrs Johnson, an APC aspirant for Bayelsa governorship election against Sylva, the immediate-past Minister of State for Petroleum.
NAN reports that Johnson, in the suit dated April 24 but filed April 27 had sued APC, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Sylva as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.
She prayed the court for an order of mandatory injunction compelling INEC to delist the names of APC and Sylva from among the list of political parties and candidates for the November election.
The aggrieved aspirant also prayed for an order of perpetual injunction restraining Sylva from parading himself as the APC’s governorship candidate in Bayelsa, among others.
She sought a declaration that the APC was duty-bound in contract to commence and conclude primary election in Bayelsa in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the regulations and guidelines of the political party, after having demanded and received the sum of N10 million from her, along with other five aspirants.
Johnson further sought a declaration that by virtue of the conduct of the APC’s primary poll on April 14 in contravention of the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and the regulations and guidelines of the political party, the APC had no candidate to field for the poll, among other reliefs.
In a counter affidavit deposed to by Sylva, the ex-minister prayed the court to dismissed the suit.
He said contrary to Johnson’s deposition, he was eminently qualified to contest for election into the Office of Governor of Bayelsa and did not suffer from any disqualifying factor which barred him from contesting.
He averred that he had only served as Bayelsa governor on one occasion.
Besides, Sylva averred that he vied for the APC primary alongside five others, including Johnson on April 14.
He said he emerged its candidate having polled the highest votes from the votes collated from 102 out of 105 wards in the eight local government areas where party members voted in a direct primary in accordance with the guidelines for poll, APC’s constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022.
He said contrary to Johnson’s argument, the primary was held and the results in which he garnered the majority of the votes was accepted and he received congratulatory messages from major APC stakeholders in the state, indicative of the fact that his victory reflected the aspirations of the party members.
Also the APC, in its counter affidavit deposed to by Dr Stanley Ugboaja, the chief of staff to deputy national organising secretary, asked the court to dismissed the suit.
The party argued that the judgment of the Supreme Court delivered on Jan. 27, 2012, in respect of the consolidated appeal was actually in support of Sylva’s bid for a second term in office and not against it as falsely stated by Johnson.
It said that the direct primary poll was conducted by its national body in accordance with the guidelines for the conduct of same as well as the provisions of the Electoral Act and its constitution.
The APC, which averred that INEC monitored the poll also said that the electoral umpire issued a report in respect of the primaries.
“An appeal against the result of the said primaries was lodged with the Appeals Committee of the ist defendant.
“The Appeal Committee rejected the said appeal as unmeritorious. A copy of the report of the Appeal Committee is attached herewith and marked Exhibit F.
“That by a letter dated 13th April, 2023, the plaintiff was requested to provide the list of her agents in all the 105 electoral wards in Bayelsa State but she failed to comply.
“She did not even bother to vote in her electoral ward. A copy of the said letter is attached herewith and marked Exhibit G,” the party told the court.
NAN recalls that the APC had cleared Mrs Johnson, Sylva, Joshua Maciver, Festus Daumiebi, Mrs Maureen Ongoebi and David Lyon as aspirants in the April 14 primaries.
In the primary election conducted in the 102 of the 105 wards of the eight local governments in the state, Sylva was said to have scored 52, 061 votes; Maciver scored 2, 078; Johnson scored 584; Daumiebi scored 557; Ongoebi scored 1, 277 and Lyon scored 1, 584 votes.(NAN)
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) over a purported anti-North statement allegedly attributed to him.
A viral statement allegedly quoted Akpabio as threatening that Northerners would suffer if President Bola Tinubu lost the 2027 presidential election.
Special Assistant to the President of the Senate on Media, Jackson Udom, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.
Udom said the petition, signed by the Akpabio’s Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, urged the DSS to urgently investigate the dissemination of the alleged false, inflammatory and divisive statement.
He said the graphic, bearing Akpabio’s photograph and designation, attributed the following words to him: ‘Northerners you will be the ones to suffer the most if you allow Tinubu to lose the election.’
“Unequivocally, the President of the Senate did not make this statement.
“No date, venue, speech, interview, video, audio recordings, official statement or credible news report has been produced to authenticate it.
“The graphic carries no identifiable publisher’s mark or verifiable source,” he said.
Udom said the statement appeared to have been deliberately manufactured and presented as an authentic quotation for the purpose of deceiving unsuspecting members of the public.
He said those behind the scheme intended to provoke regional resentment against Akpabio and portray him as threatening people in the Northern part of the country.
According to him, preliminary examination of publicly accessible Facebook records identified some persons as among the earliest traceable amplifiers of the purported fabricated graphic.
He listed the persons as Abdullai Musa, who posted the graphic in a Facebook group styled ‘Sheik Muhammad bin Uthman Group 24”.
Others were Uzoma Chilaka, whose Facebook post allegedly reproduced the graphic commentary expressly credited to him, and Ibrahim Ammar, a verified Facebook account that subsequently reproduced the graphic and similar commentary.
“These persons should not be presumed guilty before investigation.
“Nevertheless, their early and substantial roles in circulating the material make them persons of interest, who may possess information capable of identifying the graphic designer, original uploader, sponsors, intermediaries and distribution network,” he said.
Udom said their publication records, devices, communications and the provenance of the image should therefore be investigated in accordance with the law. (NAN)
By David Torough, Abuja
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has commended the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) for its strides in innovation and technological development, assuring the agency of the Federal Government’s continued support.
Akume gave the commendation on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, in Abuja when he received NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, members of his management team and winners of the agency’s Innovation Assessment and Award Competition.
The SGF described NASENI’s inter-agency and intra-agency innovation competition for federal civil and public servants and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as a significant milestone in efforts to develop home-grown solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.
He said the innovative products emerging from the competition could have significant implications for national security, food sovereignty and healthcare, adding that the achievements demonstrated the depth of talent and ingenuity among young Nigerians.
“Nigeria has talents. I don’t doubt about that. Wherever you go in the world, Nigerians are recognized as people with lot of talents and people with a great future,” Akume said.
He also praised NASENI for adopting what he described as a transparent and non-partisan process in selecting and assessing the innovations, saying the credibility of the competition would encourage more Nigerians to come forward with innovative ideas.
Akume expressed optimism that sustained government support could enable Nigeria to attain greater technological heights, including developing advanced aerospace capabilities.
“Tomorrow, who knows, Nigeria can manufacture rockets that can send people to the moon. And this can be the courtesy of NASENI,” he said.
Earlier, Halilu said the award programme was designed to identify and recognise outstanding contributions by civil and public servants through both inter-agency and intra-agency competitions.
He said NASENI’s innovation strategy goes beyond developing technological products to equipping innovators with skills needed to commercialise their ideas successfully.
According to him, technical and engineering expertise must be complemented by competencies in accounting, marketing and business development for innovations to achieve their full potential.
Halilu disclosed that NASENI had, in about two years, facilitated the establishment of 20 factories across the country and developed more than 40 products as part of efforts to transform research and innovation into commercially viable solutions.
He added that the agency had also introduced programmes aimed at identifying and nurturing innovators from an early age. One of the initiatives, the Future Makers Programme, targets children between five and 15 years to stimulate interest in science, technology, engineering and innovation.
The meeting also featured demonstrations by representatives of two of the six winners of the innovation competition.
A team from the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) showcased a security jacket equipped with technology designed to facilitate real-time communication with the command-and-control centres of security agencies, potentially improving coordination and response.
The winning team from NASENI, meanwhile, presented a commercial electronic platform designed to serve as a digital marketplace through which MDAs can promote and market their goods and services.
Akume congratulated NASENI and the winners of the competition, reaffirming the Federal Government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for research, innovation and technological development in Nigeria.
From Ayinde Akintade, Osogbo
The All Progressives Congress has taken Osun state Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election to court as the petition is now on the notice board of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo.
The papers went up on Monday, 7 September.
Tribunal secretary Pefe Belemore had said the notices would be displayed before noon. Secretariat staff were already in the courtroom as preparations for sitting continued.Two petitions challenge the 15 August result that returned Adeleke for another term.
The APC case, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, was filed by its candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, against Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The Peoples Democratic Party case, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, was filed by Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola against Adeleke, INEC and Accord.
Display of the petitions is a procedural step. The parties must still be served before full hearing begins. Adeleke remains the declared winner. The detailed grounds of each petition have not been published. The tribunal has not issued a ruling.
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