Tribunal Decision Exposes Election Fraud Involving Sylva, Police Commissioner, and Others- Gov Diri

Senator Douye Diri, the governor of Bayelsa State, has stated that the electoral fraud committed by Chief Timipre Sylva, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a current commissioner of police, was revealed by the state’s governorship election petition tribunal on November 11, 2023.

Remember that the tribunal on Monday rejected the APC and Sylva’s plea, citing lack of merit, contesting the INEC’s declaration of Governor Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the election’s victor.

On Tuesday evening, Diri gave a speech at the King of Glory Chapel in Government House, Yenagoa, where he had stopped on his way from Abuja to express gratitude.

He revealed that the APC witnesses shot themselves in the foot with baseless allegations and contradictory materials during the tribunal’s cross-examination.

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The governor also described how Mr. Tolani Alausa, the state’s former commissioner of police, damaged his reputation by providing false testimony in court and was humiliated for displaying forged INEC documents. Mr. Alausa was called as a star witness in the case.

He pointed out that even though Alausa was no longer the state’s chief prosecutor, the senior police officer showed up at the tribunal to support the APC candidate’s fraud.

He added that Chief Dennis Otiotio, the party’s state chairman, had also received harsh criticism from the tribunal for his “unprofessional conduct” as a lawyer.

He urged the judiciary to impose severe penalties on pointless cases and the misuse of legal procedures by individuals who are fervently trying to overturn popular will.

“Our lawyers scanned an INEC form that they (APC) presented during one of the sittings, and it was established that the form was printed in Yenagoa,” the speaker stated. During his own cross-examination of Otiotio and the witnesses for their party, the INEC counsel claimed that while all INEC result sheets contained barcodes, the APC’s result sheets lacked them.