Politics
Your Appeal Needless Distraction, Stop Denigrating Judiciary, Diri Admonishes Sylva
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has described the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11, 2023 poll in the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, as a needless distraction.
In his reaction shortly after the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja dismissed the application of Chief Sylva and the APC for lacking in merit, Governor Diri said the case was not only a distraction for him but for the entire state.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as saying that he was not surprised about the outcome of the case given the character of the APC candidate.
He said the verdict was a victory for the people of the state and that he was ready to meet Chief Sylva at the Supreme Court.
“It (the appeal) is a distraction not only to me but also to the government and people of the state. You also know the character of the person involved. So this is not unexpected.
“However, it is victory for Bayelsa State and I do not think I want to waste my time calling on anybody to work with us. They already said they are going to the Supreme Court. So, we will meet them there”, he said.
Meanwhile, speaking with journalists shortly after the court session, counsel to Governor Diri, Mr. Chris Uche (SAN), explained that the appellant (Sylva) failed to provide evidence and that the verdict of the appeal court vindicated his legal team and the election tribunal, which earlier upheld Governor Diri’s election.
Mr Uche said by the victory, the governor can now concentrate on his service to people of the state and expressed the confidence that, given the facts of the case, the verdict of the Supreme Court will not be different.
Meanwhile, Governor Douye Diri, has admonished Chief Timipre Sylva to face the reality of his serial losses at the courts and stop casting aspersions on the judiciary.
The Tide reports that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja last Thursday, July 18, upheld the judgement of the Bayelsa State Election Petition Tribunal and affirmed the re-election of Senator Diri as governor of the state.
The appellate court ruled that Chief Sylva’s case lacked merit as he could not provide convincing evidence to invalidate the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that election did not hold in 182 polling units.
But, Chief Sylva, in a statement reacting to the judgement, accused the appellate court Justices of breaching several portions of the Nigerian Constitution.
He also said the judgement “sadly reflected some of the concerns expressed by the CJN recently.
“By referencing the “concerns” of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Sylva was trying to be smart by half. To be sure, there were no conflicts or inconsistencies in the judgement of the Appeal Court as the verdict was clear as crystal and consistent with the earlier judgement delivered by of the state election tribunal.
“After losing the November 11, 2023 governorship poll, Sylva poured dirt on INEC. Having lost at the tribunal and the appellate court, the APC candidate now acts the bad loser he is by denigrating the judiciary.
“For a man whose party already accepted defeat in the election, one wonders the “stolen mandate” that Sylva lays claim to. For us in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the governorship poll was won through the overwhelming support and endorsement of the Bayelsa electorate. The well-delivered verdicts of the tribunal and appellate court have equally put a seal to the votes of the Bayelsa people. Sylva can only play to the gallery by whipping up sentiments to deceive those gullible enough to believe him.
“There are no two mandates in Bayelsa State and the overwhelming majority of people of our state know who has it. Sylva can only lay claim to a phantom, non-existent mandate.”
Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has directed his legal team to resume all court proceedings against Mrs. Tracy Ohiri over her repeated allegations of indebtedness and other claims against him.
Mrs Ohiri had publicly accused Senator Umahi of owing her N280 million for campaign materials from his tenure as party chairman in Ebonyi State.
The allegations went viral on social media, where she also accused the Minister of sexual harassment.
Security agencies arrested Mrs Ohiri, and she was subsequently prosecuted. Her lawyer, Barrister Marshall Abubakar, intervened, leading to the deletion of all posts and a public apology, which also gained widespread attention online.
However, days after the apology, Mrs Ohiri resumed her claims against Senator Umahi.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Francis Nwaze, Senator Umahi said he had informed Barrister Abubakar during the intervention that if Mrs Ohiri could provide verifiable evidence, logs, and communications from the period in question, some of his associates were willing to contribute a sum of One Billion Naira (N1billion) to her, evidence which, he said, she had yet to provide.
“The Honourable Minister of Works, Senator Engr. David Umahi, has been monitoring the ongoing public discourse surrounding the claims and counterclaims by Mrs. Tracy Ohiri.
“Ordinarily, this would have been ignored, but in the interest of truth and public clarity, it is necessary to address the issues directly”, the statement read.
The statement clarified that Barrister Abubakar acted in good faith and without any financial interest, motivated solely by a desire to assist Mrs Ohiri.
At no point did the lawyer discuss or negotiate any payment with the minister, although some well-meaning associates independently offered support”, the statement added.
Senator Umahi reiterated the conditions for resolving the matter: either the claims must be tested in court, or Mrs Ohiri must provide credible evidence, including all relevant communications, to substantiate her allegations.
The minister emphasised that Barr Abubakar conducted himself with integrity throughout the process.
“Following the failure to meet these conditions, particularly the inability to provide verifiable evidence, the Minister has directed his legal team to proceed with all court processes to ensure the truth is fully established,” the statement said.
Senator Umahi said despite years of public provocations and attacks, he chose to remain silent, focusing on national and state services.
He thanked Nigerians who had taken time to assess the facts and noted that “not everyone who presents themselves as a victim truly is one, and in some cases, narratives are deliberately inverted.”
The Minister affirmed that he will not be distracted by Mrs Ohiri’s allegations and remained committed to his mandate at the Ministry of Works.
“The focus remains on results, service, and ensuring that Nigerians continue to benefit from projects that improve connectivity, economic growth, and national development. This administration will continue to pursue its transformation agenda with dedication, transparency, and an unwavering sense of responsibility,” he concluded.
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has adjourned proceedings in a suit filed by three aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to April 14, 2026, for the hearing of all pending motions.
Justice Stephen Jumbo made the pronouncement during a recent sitting in Port Harcourt.
The suit, which borders on the legitimacy of the party’s leadership structure in the state, was instituted against the factional State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Aaron Chukwuemeka, alongside the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and other respondents.
Also joined in the matter are the PDP as a corporate entity, the Rivers State Government, as well as Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas, including their respective Vice Chairmen and Councillors.
The claimants, Enyi Uchechukwu, Wisdom Kalio and Uche Amadi, approached the court via an originating summons seeking judicial interpretation on the validity of actions taken by the Chief Chukwuemeka-led state executive committee of the party.
Central to the dispute is whether the said executive committee, whose emergence the claimants contend has been nullified by a subsisting court judgment, retains the legal authority to act on behalf of the party in critical electoral matters.
The plaintiffs specifically urged the court to determine whether the factional leadership could validly submit a list of candidates to RSIEC for the purpose of participating in local government elections.
They further questioned the legitimacy of the PDP’s participation in the August 30, 2025 local government elections, contending that any list purportedly submitted by the factional leadership was invalid and of no legal consequence.
In addition to the declaratory reliefs sought, the claimants also prayed the court to grant consequential orders addressing the outcome and conduct of the said elections across the affected local government areas.
At the resumed hearing, counsel representing the PDP and the affected local government councils informed the court that they had only recently been served with the originating processes and accompanying documents.
The defence team, comprising several Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), disclosed that service of the court processes was effected on March 13, 2026, leaving them with limited time to adequately prepare their responses.
Consequently, the defence counsel applied for an adjournment to enable them study the processes and address the legal issues raised, particularly as they relate to jurisdictional questions and points of law.
Counsel to the claimants, Glory Chizim-Chinda, did not oppose the application, following which the presiding judge granted the request and adjourned the matter to April 14, 2026, for the hearing of all pending motions, with a possible ruling expected ahead of the substantive suit.
By: King Onunwor
A former state lawmaker in the old the Rivers State, Professor Alex Eseimokumo, has described Nigerian opposition political parties as mere preposition political parties.
He also advised the country’s electorate against selling their votes during next year’s general elections.
The former legislator, who is also the president of the Institute for Peace, Conflict Resolution and Entrepreneurial Research, said this in an exclusive interview with The Tide on the sidelines of an event organized by the institute in Port Harcourt.
He said opposition political parties in Nigeria have been reduced to preposition political parties as most of them are not only dinning with the government but advising government on what to do to win election.
“The problem in Nigeria is we are not practicing politics the way it is supposed to be.The opposition are more in preposition.
“You see, opposition is supposed to find out things that are wrong in government but in our present day politics, you see opposition even dinning with the other group. So, there is basically nothing like opposition in Nigeria “, he said.
He lamented a situation where some individuals within the opposition are allegedly working hard to prevent their parties from fielding presidential candidates in the forthcoming election, adding that such individuals were only there to protect their personal interest.
Prof. Eseimokumo said as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he could not wish his party to fail in the election, even though nothing is impossible in Nigeria.
He noted that though the government in power has been trying it’s best, there was more to be done.
In his words, “I’m an APC member, so I don’t have the right to criticize my party but a word of advice: we still need to do more, more people oriented leadership where everybody will feel carried along.
“For now, I’m campaigning for APC to be re elected and if I stand here to say APC is not doing well, I’m not being fair to myself. But I think, with God all things are possible, there can be changes”.
On his assessment of the performances of governors of the Niger Delta states, Prof Eseimokumo said the governors were doing well within the limit of their resources.
” I don’t know what is given to them as allocation, but if what we are seeing in terms of window dressing is not window shopping, then they are doing well”, he said.
Meanwhile, Prof. Eseimokumo has advised Nigerian electorates against selling their votes during the forthcoming elections.
He said credible election could only be achieved when the electorates refuse financial inducement during the elections.
According to him, though Nigerian voters had been difficult to persuade, the time had come for them to stop selling their votes.
Prof. Eseimokumo said the forthcoming elections will serve as a litmus test for the Nigerian electorate to demonstrate their desire for changes in the country, stressing that free and fair elections will continue to be a mirage in the country until the was a change in the attitude of the electorate.
“If you want your vote to count, don’t take money from anybody; if you want your votes to count, don’t collect money for your vote. The moment you collect money for your vote, you have sold your conscience”, he warned.
He said his institute will continue to work for peace, not just in the Niger Delta region but across Nigeria.
By: John Bibor