A day to the official inauguration of Mr. David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Bayelsa State governor, the Supreme Court yesterday voided his victory at the poll.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko, the apex court nullified the nomination and participation of Lyon and his running mate, Biobarakuma Degi-Eriemienyo, in the November 16, 2019 governorship election.
The court held that the running mate to the governor-elect, Degi-Eriemienyo forged a certificate to secure clearance for the APC deputy governorship ticket.
Justice Eko, in the judgment that was delivered in less than one hour, maintained that it was established from the documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the deputy governor-elect committed perjury by “chameliously and fraudulently using different names as it suits him.”
According to the court, the deputy governor-elect and his political party, APC, did not dispute the fact deposed to by the appellant that the multiple names were clearly and fraudulently used in the form CF001 submitted to the electoral body.
Justice Eko revealed that different names were used on the primary school leaving certificate, General Certificate of Education (GCE), first degree, National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate and the master’s degree certificate.
The court added that the deputy governor-elect did not approach lawful authorities to correct the multiple names on his certificates.
The apex court further held that an affidavit of regularisation of names purportedly done by the governor-elect and published in the Chronicle newspaper was a futile attempt to justify the multiplicity of names submitted to INEC.
The court, therefore, came to the conclusion that the primary school certificate obtained in 1976, GCE, 1984, first degree, 1990 and others were products of forgery and that the deputy governor-elect violated Section 182 of the 1999 Constitution.
Source: Guardian Newspaper
