Bayelsa State Deputy Governor Lawrence Oborawharievwo Ewhrudjakpo has asked the Court of Appeal Abuja Division to strike out the Notice of Appeal filed by All Progressives Congress, APC, and its governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva against tribunal judgment for being incompetent.
The Deputy Governor through his counsel Chukwuma -Machukwu Ume, SAN, also prays the appellate court to dismiss the appellants substantive appeal for being an abuse of the processes of court proceedings.
The appellants had filed two separate appeals against the May 27 , 2024 decision of Bayelsa State Gov’ship Election Tribunal which dismissed Sylva’s petition for lacking in merit. This was after the tribunal found that petitioners were unable to prove their allegation that Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo was not qualified to have contested the November 11, 2023 governorship election along with his principal, Governor Douye Diri.
The appellants in the appeals filed on June 4 and 6, 2024 had challenged tribunal decision which dismissed their allegation that the deputy governor
Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, tendered forged University Degree Certificate and NYSC Exemption Certificate, to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in aid of his qualification to contest the election.
They also said that the tribunal erred in law when it held that their unsubstantiated allegation was a pre-election matter that ought to be litigated before the Federal High Court, that besides.being status bar the issue of Ewhrudjakpo’s educational qualification had previously been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in favour of the deputy governor.
In his response to the appeal, counsel to the Deputy Governor , Ume SAN filed an objection to the appeal and asked the appellate court to strike out the appeal .
He contended that the appellants are erroneously prosecuting two appeals against decision of the trial tribunal. He said that an appellant cannot lawfully file more than one appeal against the judgment of an Election Petition Tribunal such as the lower court, by virtue of the provisions of the Constitution .
He said it was needless to severe the appeals into “interlocutory” and “substantive” as done by the appellants in this case and it amount to an abuse of processes of court.
According to him, upon the judgment, the rulings on the Interlocutory issues lose their interlocutory nature and character, particularly bearing in mind the fact that the lifespan of the Tribunal has expired, and there would be nothing left to be determined in the unlikely event of a reversal of the Tribunal’s decisions on the several preliminary objections and motions.
Interestingly the 3rd Respondent’s application for dismissal of the Petition due to the Appellants’ failure to apply for mandatory issuance of pre-hearing notice filed on the 24″ January, 2024 is a purely jurisdictional issue, and therefore final judgement
He also is contending that appellants appeal initiated vide exhibit R3A3 entered on 14/6/2024, being later in time constitutes an abuse of the processes of this Honourable Court and therefore, should be dismissed.