Respect court ruling on Sylva’s disqualification, Bayelsa stakeholders tell INEC

Running mate granted amnesty by Yar’Adua, says NCS

A forum dedicated to advocacy for transparent and peaceful governance in Bayelsa State, the Bayelsa Democratic Coalition, has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to respect the decision of a Federal High Court, which disqualified the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, from participating in next month’s governorship election in the State.

Coordinator of the coalition, Orama David, in a statement, yesterday, in Abuja, hailed the decision of the court, describing it as victory for democracy.

A civic society organisation, Save Ijaw Nation Group, had conducted an independent investigation and presented a 285-page report, which identified places, victims, perpetrators and sponsors of the violence, which erupted during the December 2015 governorship election.

Subsequently, the government of Bayelsa State constituted the Justice Margaret Akpomiemie (retd) Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the violence and identify its perpetrators. It submitted its report years ago.

But former deputy national publicity secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, and close ally of Sylva, had described the state government’s action as a political witch-hunt. He said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government constituted the Commission, saying it was expected that the panel would be biased.

ALSO, Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) has confirmed that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua granted the Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress (APC) deputy governorship candidate, Joshua Maciver, Presidential amnesty.

The confirmation is contained in a leaked letter, dated 2nd of February 2022, from the office of the Comptroller General of the service. The letter, signed by the Controller General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa, said that prior to the amnesty, Maciver was serving a prison sentence in Kaduna Prisons.

He said that with the amnesty granted Maciver, he was no longer under any legal obligation to continue to serve his prison sentence.

The letter reads: “This is to confirm that Joshua Maciver, who was serving a prison sentence in Kaduna Prisons, following his conviction in Charge No. PHC/KD/119C/2004 Federal Republic of Nigeria Vs Joshua Maciver on February 27, 2006, was granted amnesty alongside other Niger Delta militants by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Recall that a female governorship aspirant of the APC, Isikima Johnson, who also participated and lost the party’s governorship primary to Timipre Sylva, is challenging the eligibility of Maciver.

She had sought his disqualification as the party’s running mate on alleged grounds that he is an ex-convict, who was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for terrorism and sea piracy, but escaped from prison without completing his sentence.