Lokpobiri Vs Lyon, Court To Rule Case November 14

A Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has fixed November 14 for judgment in a suit filed by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri challenging the emergence of Chief David Lyon as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

The judgment will be delivered two days to the governorship election in the state.

In the suit, Lokpobiri, who is the immediate past minister of state for agriculture and rural development, applied for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the APC from presenting Lyon to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the party’s candidate for the November 16 election.

Lokpobiri also requested orders stopping Lyon from parading himself as the APC candidate and INEC from recognizing Lyon or putting his image on the ballot paper as the party’s governorship candidate.

He, however, further asked the court to compel INEC to treat him as the lawful candidate of APC and to accord him the rights and privileges of a candidate of APC in the gubernatorial election.

Lokpobiri averred that a governorship primary election committee was constituted by the National Secretariat of the APC under the chairmanship of Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni and that the committee in compliance with the directive of the party, conducted the primary poll through direct primary procedures.

He noted that the primary election was conducted throughout the state with the involvement of local government and ward chairmen of the party with six governorship aspirants, including himself, participating in the process.

Lokpobiri claimed that he won the majority of lawful votes in five local government areas comprising Ekeremor, 48,113; Sagbama, 24,890; Ogbia, 13,349; Yenagoa, 18,258 and Kolokuma/Opokuma 6,809 votes.

He said he won the primary poll with 111,439 to defeat Lyon, who polled 326 votes but unlawfully declared the winner.

“We presented our cases, canvass our arguments and we are hopeful that Heineken Lokpobiri will reclaim his stolen mandate. We have confidence in the court’s ability to do justice, and the facts are very clear, a lot of documents to show where the justice of the matter will take and my lord will respond.

The parties involved have canvassed their cases and it is now left for the court to give judgment on the 14th of November,” he said.

But counsel to APC, Sydney Ibanickuka, said they filed many preliminary objections challenging the competence of the suit.

He said: “We on our side as respondents have filed several preliminary objections challenging the competence of the suit and sundry other issues, because of the nature of the suit itself. The court has said in its usual procedure for the adoption of all filed processes; the court will during judgment trash them one after the other.”