Bayelsa, Kogi Polls: Diri, Deputy, PDP Want To Join In APP’s Appeal

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri and his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, have asked the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal to join them as defendants in the appeal filed by the Action People’s Party (APP) against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the exclusion of its candidates from participating in the 2019 governorship election in Bayelsa and Kogi States.
Another applicant, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has equally filed a similar motion before the appellate court.
Meanwhile, the court has ordered parties to the appeal to file their written responses to the motions for joinder within 24 hours beginning from Wednesday.
A three-man panel of justices led by the acting president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem had earlier granted an accelerated hearing of the appeal.
The appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/218/2020 is challenging the judgment of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court delivered on February 21st, wherein she held that INEC was right to have excluded candidates of the party (APP) in the governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa states in 2019.
The judgment of the trial court was predicated on the ground that APP replaced its withdrawn candidates outside the statutory period of 45 days to the date of the 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa States’ governorship elections.
Specifically, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1163/2019 the party had among other reliefs, sought the declaration of the court to the effect that any subsequent conduct of the 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections without the replaced candidates of the Plaintiff amount to unlawful exclusion of the plaintiff in the said election.
“A declaration that any subsequent conduct of the 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa States’ governorship election without the replaced candidates of the plaintiff is null and void by reason of such exclusion.”
When the matter came up yesterday, Governor Diri, his deputy, Senator Ewhrudjakpo and their political platform, the PDP filed separate motions seeking to be joined in the appeal as defendants.
In his motion brought pursuant to section 6(a) and 36 (1) of the 1999 constitution, section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, Governor Diri through his counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), urged the court to join him as the second respondent in the appeal.