Breaking: Tribunal Affirms Duoye Diri As Bayelsa State Governor

The Bayelsa State governorship election petition tribunal has dismissed the petition brought before it by Owei Woniwei of the Alliance for Democracy against Senator Duoye Diri in the 2019 Bayelsa governorship election.

The tribunal on Saturday dismissed Woniwei’s petition against the election victory of Diri for lack of merit.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice S.M Owodunni, the tribunal sitting in Abuja, ruled that the petitioner failed to prove the allegations of the forged declaration of age and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharged certificate levelled against the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Oborawharievwo Ewhrudjakpo.

The tribunal ruled that the deputy governor is eminently qualified having fulfilled the provision of section 177 of the constitution and the alleged error on the certificate was corrected by the NYSC which was corroborated by NYSC Director-General.

The Tribunal also awarded the sum of two hundred thousand naira in favour of all the three respondents, except the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).