Douye Diri: Court Adjourns Suit Seeking Disqualification in Bayelsa Guber Election

A suit seeking the disqualification of Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has been adjourned by a Federal High Court in Abuja until March 18 for hearing.

The suit, listed as number 14 on the cause list, could not proceed on Monday due to the workload before Justice Emeka Nwite, who presided over the case. Consequently, the court scheduled March 18 for the hearing.

According to reports from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Justice Nwite had initially fixed November 30, 2023, for the hearing, but the proceedings were stalled. Less than nine days before the Bayelsa governorship election on November 11, 2023, a fresh suit challenging the eligibility of Diri and Ewhrudjakpo was brought before Justice Nwite.

On November 3, the judge granted an ex-parte motion allowing the plaintiff’s counsel, Ifeanyi Nwosu, to serve Diri and Ewhrudjakpo at the Government House in Bayelsa via courier service.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1448/23, was filed by Blessing Clement Azibanagbal, a Bayelsan woman, through her lawyer, Nsowu. It named Diri, Ewhrudjakpo, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants.

The plaintiff sought a mandatory injunction directing INEC to remove Diri and Ewhrudjakpo’s names as PDP’s candidates in the November 11 poll. Additionally, she sought a perpetual injunction restraining INEC from further publishing their names as the party’s standard bearers in Bayelsa.

Azibanagbal also argued that Ewhrudjakpo was not qualified to run as the deputy governor under the PDP due to alleged discrepancies in his names. She urged the court to declare that the PDP had no valid candidate in the election.

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However, the PDP, represented by A.K. Ajibade, SAN, filed a notice of preliminary objection dated November 28, arguing that the suit should be dismissed or struck out for being statute-barred. The party contended that the suit was based on pre-election matters and was filed after the constitutional time limit for such cases had expired.

Meanwhile, INEC had declared Diri as the winner of the November 11 poll after he secured the highest votes, defeating other candidates, including Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC).