Bayelsa Election Tribunal: ‘Speaker Was Sacked As A Teacher’

The Election Tribunal sitting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital is presently faced with the problem of finding out if the current Speaker of  Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon Nestor Binabo was dismissed as a teacher in the old Rivers State, and whether he was later reabsorbed by  the Bayelsa State Government when it was created in 1996.

The issue became a bone of contention when the matter between the Speaker and the Labour Party candidate, Mr Banabas Edure came up for hearing at the tribunal last Wednesday.

Edure who lost the election in Sagbama Constituency One,  to the Speaker, had approached the tribunal to nullify the election on the ground that Binabo, was dismissed as a teacher in Old Rivers State for indiscipline, and therefore was not qualified to stand for the polls.

He is also asking the tribunal to declare that since the speaker was not qualified to contest election, he should be declared the winner.

The Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Yenagoa, has already admitted the termination of appointment letter against the Speaker  as exhibit two.

But, the Speaker, who was cross-examined by the counsel to the appellant, Barrister Andrew Arthur, on Wednesday, denied that his appointment was terminated, insisting that he had untainted record while his service lasted both in old Rivers State and Bayelsa State.

Hon Binabo, who stood in the witness box for almost an hour, before Justice Christopher Auta-led 3-man election tribunal, also denied that he re-applied to be engaged in the Bayelsa State civil service in 2005.

The petition of Hon Edure  against the election of the Speaker  also received a boost, through the admittance of a letter issued in 1987 by the Rivers State Schools Management Board over his alleged dismissal from service for indiscipline.

Meanwhile the petitioner has withdrawn other charges, bothering on election malpractices against the second defendant, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC).