By-election: Court disqualifies APC candidate for Bayelsa West

A Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, has disqualified the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Bayelsa West senatorial district, Peremobowei Ebebi, from contesting the forthcoming senatorial by-election in the state.

The presiding judge, Justice Jane Inyang, in a judgment, yesterday, on a case of forgery filed by Richman Samuel, a former director of Domestic Matters, Government House, Yenagoa against the APC candidate, upheld the plaintiff’s prayers and declared the APC candidate ineligible to contest the election.

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The plaintiff contended that the academic credentials and voter’s card which the defendant submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the by-election were forged documents.

Ebebi, who is a former deputy governor, emerged the APC senatorial candidate for Bayelsa West in a direct mode of primary election conducted in September by the party’s primary electoral committee headed by retired General Abdulsalam Dahiru.

INEC had fixed October 31 for the Bayelsa Central and West senatorial by-elections but the commission, on October 22, announced the indefinite postponement of the poll and 14 others due to the #EndSARS protest.

Counsel to the plaintiff, Reuben Iguaba, explained that in a similar suit filed by some members of the APC challenging the legitimacy of the party’s primary election, the court also gave judgment against the former deputy governor.

Iguaba told journalists in an interview that the court also declared that the APC candidate was not validly nominated, and disqualified him from contesting in the Bayelsa West senatorial polls.

Ebebi could not be reached for comments as he neither answered calls to his phone nor responded to a text message sent to him as at the time of filing this report.

But a member of his campaign team, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, said the APC candidate will appeal the judgment.

The governorship candidate of APC in the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Bayelsa suffered the same fate when the Supreme Court voided his election due to discrepancies in his running mate’s academic credentials barely a day to his swearing-in last February.