Tribunal Rules On Bayelsa West Election Dispute Soon

The Election Petition Tri
bunal sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State has fixed August 3, 2015 for adoption of final addresses in All Progressives Congress (APC) bid to unseat a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator.
The plaintiffs, APC and Hon. Eddi Julius, an APC candidate in Bayelsa West Senatorial District had approached the Tribunal with a petition against the PDP candidate, Senator Foster Ogola who won the March 28 election.
Also joined in the suit are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the first respondent and the PDP as the third respondent while Ogola is the second respondent.
Recently, Julius testified before the tribunal and closed his case without calling other nine witnesses and did not also present any copies of the forged certificates as he alleged.
At the sitting, lead counsel to Ogola, Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) and Affinih Egbegi, a one-time Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Bayelsa State tendered all the results of the election.
The tribunal had earlier struck out four written statements of the petitioner on the ground that though they were sworn to on oath, they were not signed statements.
In the APC petition filed on April 18, 2015, the plaintiffs allege that Ogola was not elected by majority votes, that his election violated some provisions of the Electoral Act and urged the tribunal to void the election for failure to comply with the Act.
The petitioner also alleged that Ogola presented forged certificate to INEC and therefore urged the commission to withdraw the certificate of return and present it to the APC candidate.
In their reply filed on May 9, 2015, counsels to Ogola stated that the second respondent is qualified having the minimum qualification of school certificate and did not at any time present forged certificate to INEC.
They also averred that the election was not invalid as there were no issues of substantial non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.