Governor Dickson vs Timipre Sylva Over Inspection of Election Material

Reject Sylva’s application to inspect election materials – Governor Dickson begs Tribunal

The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson on Thursday urged a Governorship Election Tribunal to dismiss the application by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the last election, Timipre Sylva, where he sought to inspect election materials.

Dickson who made the appeal through his lawyer, Tayo Oyetibo told the tribunal sitting in Abuja that the time for the application had since elapsed.

He said, “Section 151 of the Electoral Act, 2010 does not authorise the INEC to certify the documents requested without payment of necessary fees.The governor stated that the application will violate Section 154 of the Evidence Act which requires payment before certification.

Counsel to Sylva, Sebastine Hon had filed an application urging the tribunal to order the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to grant his client access to inspect materials used during the December 6, 2015 governorship election in the state.

Items Sylva sought to be inspected include, ballot papers used, thumb-printed counted as valid; ballot papers recorded as spoilt, unused and printout of record of accreditation as captured by the smart card reader.

After listening to argument of both counsels, Justice Kazeem Kogba adjourned the matter till April 11 for ruling on the application