The conduct of the governorship election in Bayelsa state slated Saturday this week is now threatened by two aspirants, who have filed different Ex-parte motions order before the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the election and include their names on the contestants list.
Kenneth Gbaliga Gbalikuma flying the flag of the African Renaissance party (ARP), through his lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, had asked Justice Donatus Okorowo to “outrightly stop the election” on the allegation that the electoral body violated some provisions of the Electoral Act 2010.
Mr Gbalikuma specifically claimed that “INEC gave only 12 days’ notice to political parties for the poll instead of the mandatory 90 days as contained in Section 30 of the Electoral Act.”
According to the plaintiffs, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot conduct a valid election in the face of a breach of the Electoral law. The ARP candidate in his motion asked the Court to give order for status-quo to be maintained pending the time INEC would comply with all relevant laws and guidelines on the Bayelsa election.
Justice Okorowo ruled that INEC should appear before him on Friday to “show cause on why the election should not be stopped.”
The same judge in another Ex-parte motion ordered INEC to include the name of the candidates of the African Liberation Party (ALP), Dumbo Hink and his running mate Adigio Austine Inangaebite on the contestant list for the governorship election.
Messrs Hink and Inangaebite, who claimed to have perfected their papers, sued INEC for excluding their names from the list of contestants.
Justice Okorowo held that it would be unfair for the electoral body to exclude the candidates and ordered that they must be allowed to participate in the poll.
The national chairman of the ALP, Emmanuel Osita Okeke had dragged INEC to court on behalf of his party’s candidate.
ANPP WANTS POSTPONEMENT
The national chairman of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Ogbonnaya Onu has demanded the postponement of the polls to enable the party field a candidate in the election as ordered by the Court.
Mr Onu made at the party’s national executive council meeting in Abuja on Thursday said that “the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must obey the ruling of the Court and give the party appropriate time to comply with the Court’s order.”
A Federal High Court had directed that the ANPP should be allowed to field its candidate in the governorship election in Bayelsa state.
