Court restrains Bayelsa SIEC from conducting LG polls

Cross River election tribunal warns against delay tactics
Justice Venchak Gaba of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Kwali, has granted an interim injunction restraining the Bayelsa State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) from conducting election in eight councils on August 10, 2019.

The decision followed an ex parte motion and an accompanying affidavit filed before the court by counsel to Micah Akeems and National Rescue Mission (NRM), the applicants.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and BSIEC are the respondents.

The applicants had prayed the court for leave to serve the writ of summons and statement of claim on the second respondent in Bayelsa, as well as an order halting the conduct of the proposed council election.

Delivering his ruling on July 3, the judge restrained “the defendants, their servants, assigns and privies or any person under their direction or control, from taking any further step in compliance with the guidelines for the local government council elections 2019 published and released by the second respondent with a view to proceeding to conduct the local government elections in the eight local government councils in Bayelsa State fixed for August 10, 2019, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed in this suit.”

Meanwhile, the Cross River State election petition tribunal sitting in Calabar has warned against the use of delay tactics by litigants and counsel.

It issued the warning at the weekend in reference to the petition by Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba and the All Progressives Congress (APC) against Senator Sandy Onor, PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

At the resumed sitting on July 5, Mr. Paul Erokoro, counsel to Onor, pleaded that due to flight rescheduling, his star witness could not meet up with the sitting. He requested for an adjournment or a step-down of the case by three hours.

He had failed on July 2 to produce the star witness and others, which the tribunal seriously frowned at.