By Emeka Alex Duru
During his tenure as Anambra state governor, Peter Obi made marks on his regular victories at the courts. In 2003 when he sought election on the ticket of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), he was the clear choice of the people. The result of the poll was however compromised in favour of Chris Ngige (currently, the Labour minister) of the Peoples Democratic Party. Obi went to court and regained his mandate after three years. Shortly after, he was impeached by few members of the State House of Assembly on flimsy grounds. He ran back to the Court and was restored to office. His term was yet to run out when another election was conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Obi returned to Court to seek judicial interpretation of his tenure. He was returned to office to complete his term. On account of this chain of victories, he was referred to as a governor with the judicial seal, by many.
In the current dispensation, Bayelsa state governor, Senator Douye Diri, is steadily fitting into the Obi analogy. Early in the week, the governor sustained his victory march when the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, Imo State, upheld the processes that led to his emergence as governor. The court also dismissed the claim by former Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Director and PDP governorship aspirant, Ndutimi Alaibe, that PDP and INEC adopted a “flawed process” during the primary that led to the emergence of Diri as the standard-bearer of the party in the election. The Court dismissed the suit for lack of merit.
Alaibe, who was beaten by the governor in the primary, was dissatisfied, and challenged the matter at the Federal High Court sitting in Owerri. The Court, presided by Justice Tijjani Ringim, had dismissed the suit on March 10, 2020. Not satisfied, Alaibe proceeded to the Court of Appeal to challenge it. But by upholding the lower court’s ruling, the Court of Appeal affirmed that Diri’s victory process was legitimate.
That adds to the strings of victories that the governor had garnered in course of his Bayelsa governorship. In fact, his, is a mandate that had almost been compromised but for the judiciary. In the run-up to the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Bayelsa, many had tipped him for victory over David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC), his main opponent. But, Lyon was declared the winner of the election that was marked by high scale irregularities. The victory song was however, not wholesome.
On 13 February 2020, the Supreme Court invalidated the results of the election on grounds that the running mate of Lyon submitted fake certificates to the INEC. The court ordered Diri to be issued a certificate of return as the duly elected governor. On 14 February 2020, he was sworn in as governor. The Appeal Court victory, thus, falls into this tradition.
Appeal Court victory and the task ahead
It was not unexpected that supporters of the governor would jump to ululation on the court verdict. Andrew Yopele, a Yenagoa resident, described the outcome as exciting and refreshing. Another Bayelsa indigene, John Abarowei, enthused that the judgement was in line with the expectation of the people. For them, it would ensure the continuity agenda of the administration. But for Diri, erstwhile senator representing Bayelsa Central at the National Assembly, the judgement is a moment of reflection and victory to all indigenes of the state, irrespective of their political leanings. Shortly after coming to office, he had in an encounter with newsmen, pledged to promote issues that would unite Bayelsa, not the ones that would divide them. He has consequently extended hands of fellowship to even his political opponents in a move to reposition the state.
His agenda for the state had been eloquently stated before now. In his words, “We want to focus on human capacity; we want to focus on infrastructure, particularly as it relates to roads, education and health, which a lot has been done by the previous administration. We want to focus on aquaculture, agriculture, trade and investments”.
He had also pledged to involve more Bayelsans in the economic activities of the state. To achieve these targets, the governor needs an atmosphere devoid of distraction. With dwindling accruals from the federation account as a result of the falling prices of oil in the international market and increased overhead arising from the new minimum wage, Bayelsa as other states is no t finding things easy. The governor has also, severally emphasised that the state is not as rich as many assume, despite the 13 percent derivation. The internally generated revenue is low, for instance. Most of the oil companies operating in the state also do not pay taxes to it.
For him therefore, pulling the state out of the woods requires thinking out of the box and cooperation of others. This is the kernel of his admonition to Bayelsans in his message; “Let us avoid things that will pull us down; let’s delve more into things that will bring us together that will lead to development”.
The expectation is that with the Appeal Court verdict, Diri’s opponents in PDP and the opposition parties would sheathe their swords and give him the needed support to govern the state. This is especially as the era of politicking has gone and should give way for the development of the state.