Bayelsa Speaker in fresh trouble

Kombowei Benson

Bayelsa State Speaker, Kombowei Benson

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Bayelsa State Speaker, Kombowei Benson
Bayelsa State Speaker, Kombowei Benson

Certainly these are not the best of times for the Rt. Hon Kombowei Benson, Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly due protest by some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) demanding his resignation as the Speaker following the December 2015 judgement of the Court of Appeal which annulled his mandate as a lawmaker.

The interpretation of the judgement of the Court of Appeal has been given varying versions of to suit those for or against the Speaker. While supporters of the Speaker and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, claimed the Court of Appeal ruling did not ask him to vacate the seat pending a re-run election, the APC through the Counsel to the Appellant has submitted the certified true copies of the ruling to the State Attorney-General and the Clerk of the House of Assembly arguing that the of order of the Court is that the Speaker’s mandate had been annulled.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State had on 9 December, 2015, voided the election of Benson and ordered a fresh election in the Constituency 4 of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

To buttress their argument, the APC candidate, Ebifaghe P. Orunimighe and his party made available to journalists in Yenagoa a certified true copy of the Court of Appeal ruling signed by Ejembi Eko, Justice of Court of Appeal.

Ebifaghe P. Orunimighe and the APC were appellants, while Mr. Benson Kombowei Friday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) were respondents.

The Court of Appeal ruled based on the appeal filed by the APC candidate Ebifieghe Orunimighe challenging the victory of Kombowei in the election into Bayelsa State House of Assembly.

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The ruling of by the Election petition Tribunal, ordered that the election of Mr. Benson Friday Kombowei as the purported winner of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly seat for Southern Ijaw Constituency 4) held on 11 April, 2015 was null and void.

The Court of Appeal, Presided over by Hon. Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba,‎ Hon. Justice Ejembi Eko and Hon. Justice Stephen Jonah Adam,‎ ruled: “It is hereby ordered that fresh elections shall be conducted in all the wards of the constituency within 90 days from today except in Olodiama ward four and the polling units 20-30 in Foropa ward four(4). These results from Olodiama ward four(4) and polling unit 20-30 in Foropa ward four(4) shall upon the fresh elections in other wards as ordered, thereafter be duly collated and final declaration/return made.”

The APC quoting a statement credited to the ‎counsel to the applicant, that the Speaker refused to obey the court order to vacate his seat as a member of the State Assembly before the re-run election.

According to the Statement, though the Clerk of the House has been duly served the ruling of the Court of Appeal, “as I send this message now, the speaker has refused to vacate the seat, he went ahead on Friday to receive the 2016 Appropriation Bill as submitted by the State Governor, Seriake Dickson.

“We are seeking legal means to compel the Court to issue a contempt order against him and get him arrested and evicted from the House.

“Ours is a party with obedience to the rule of law. Kombowei Benson’s tenure elapsed in April 2015, after which elections were contested. He was declared winner through a manipulative process. We then moved to the court for help. The Tribunal did not favour us. We proceeded to the Court of Appeal and we got a judgment in our favour but the man has refused to vacate the seat.‎”

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