APC boycotted Bayelsa rerun election, witnesses tell court

Witnesses told the Bayelsa governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja on Friday, that the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not participate in the January 9, 2016 rerun election.

The witnesses, speaking on behalf of the party, said there was no violence in the various polling units during the election held on December 5, 2015.

The witnesses gave the testimonies during cross examination by counsel in a petition filed by Timipreye Sylva, candidate of the party in the election.

Sylva is praying the tribunal to declare him winner of the election based on the result of substantive poll, which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared as inconclusive.

The result sheet “form EC8A” of the various polling units were tendered through the witnesses, which the counsels objected to.

Citing violence and irregularities, INEC had declared the election inconclusive.

Gini Erafaghe, a polling unit agent in the southern Ijaw area, said APC did not participate in the election held on January 9, neither did he go to the polling unit on the same date.

“I was a polling unit agent in the election held on December 5, 2015, but I was not the agent for the election held on January 9, 2016. I did not even go to the polling unit on January 9,” he said.

“There was also no violence at my unit during the Dec. 5, 2015 election.”

Another APC witness, Mick Kokorifa, also from Southern Ijaw, told the tribunal that APC did not participate in the January 9 election.

Kokorifa informed the tribunal that he did not follow the returning officer to the ward collation centre for compilation of the result of each polling units.

He also told the tribunal that he did not know the location of the ward collation centre, neither was he aware of what happened at the centre.

“Election materials to my polling unit were transported through the waterways, so, I wouldn’t know what happened at the waterside on December 5, because I was at my polling unit,” he said.

“I am a registered voter, but I don’t have anything to show for that now, I am not here with my voter card.”

Also, John Deala, the APC agent at polling unit 10 in Ward 12 of the same local government, said he left the polling unit where he was assigned to work to vote at the polling unit where he registered.

When the witness was told that the signature he signed on the result sheet and handed over to the ward collation agent was different from that of his witness statement on oath, he admitted that he had more than one signature.

He said the APC did not participate in the January 9 election and that violence only occurred the day before the December election.

Jacob Sanugba, another agent from Oporoma, headquarters of Southern Ijaw, also confirmed to the tribunal that he did not monitor the distribution of the election materials.

He declared that he would not know what happened at all the polling units.

“I did not monitor the distribution of the election materials but I performed my duty as assigned to me. I know that 20 political parties were listed on the ballot paper but only six political parties participated in the 2015 Bayelsa governorship election,” he said.

“I was in my community particularly my compound on January 9, 2016; I did not participate in the Jan. 9 election neither did my party participated in the election.”