A socio-cultural group, Niger Delta Peace and Justice Movement, has lashed out at the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the last election in Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, accusing him of playing games with the judiciary from the Election Petition Tribunal, Court of Appeal and now the Supreme Court, “in his so-called election petition”.
The group, in a statement by its General Secretary, Stephen Ebibofa, on Wednesday in Abuja, claimed that Sylva was hell-bent on intimidating and blackmailing the judiciary using the presidency to delay proceedings at the apex court even when all parties have already accepted service and filed their respective papers.
Ebibofa stated: “Having lost the election woefully in seven out of eight local government areas in the state, followed by his humiliating defeat at the election petition tribunal and Court of Appeal where his petition was accordingly dismissed in a unanimous decision, Sylva has filed a motion to delay proceedings after both parties have already filed their papers”.
He noted that the decisions at both the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal had vindicated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Seriake Dickson, saying that “truth is sacred” and as such Sylva was only resorting to delay in order to intimidate and manipulate the judiciary.
The group stated that perhaps faced with a possible ban from contesting future governorship election as contained in Dickson’s cross appeal before the Supreme Court, Sylva rushed to the apex court to file a motion it regarded as an attempt to delay proceedings.
According to the statement, the group held that Sylva and his supporters are boasting that with the appointment and resumption of a new Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Presidency, according to Sylva has been instructed to nullify the election which brought Dickson to a second term and to order a fresh election in Bayelsa using most of the newly appointed members of the Supreme Court. A number of the newly appointed members are said to be members of the panel pencil down to preside over the case.
“Sylva is causing delay to avoid the hearing of the case, a case he first brought before the Supreme Court. It is instructive for all patriots to note that the likes of Sylva are a threat to our democracy and judiciary. Obviously, he has no respect for institutions of state, believing that any institution can be bought or rubbished as he’s bragging and boasting all over and dropping the name of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“But we are calling on the Supreme Court not to fall for his dangerous antics. Sylva believes that he can use the APC-led Federal Government to harass and intimidate the judiciary but as a group, we believe that such negative action will further drag the judiciary in the mud. And in spite of Sylva’s bragging to corrupt the judiciary, we are confident that the judiciary as a pillar of justice will once again acquit itself creditably”.
Ebibofa said the whole world is watching to see how Sylva could ever hope to manipulate the case, when both the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and Court of Appeal had in deference to the law and facts of the case unanimously dismissed the case.
“Hence it is clear that Sylva and the APC have no case”, he stated.
In a related development, the PDP in Bayelsa State, in a statement by its Chairman, Chief Moses Cleopas, has also called on Sylva to stop desecrating the judiciary. The party said it was waiting for Sylva and APC to prove its case before the apex court since Sylva’s case were thrown out unanimously by the two lower courts.
He stated: “It is clear that Sylva and the APC have no case. All they are banking on is the dangerous propaganda that President Muhammadu Buhari will secure judgement for them by intimidating the judiciary to deliver judgement in his favour. But this proposition is certainly untenable in the face of what we went through in that election and indeed the facts in our favour. The APC is a party of deception and propaganda. The ongoing attack on the judiciary is a not a fight against corruption but an attempt to cow the judiciary and other arms of government. When they intimidate, harass the judiciary to do their bidding as Sylva is doing in Bayelsa, it is not corruption. Sylva’s latest move, if allowed, will be the final blow to the judiciary especially the Supreme Court.”
