June 24, (THEWILL) – Bayelsa State Governor Duoye Diri’s disclosure of his government’s plan to institute legal action against the killers of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agent at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collation centre in Brass Local Government Area on November 12, 2023, has once again raised the political stakes in the state.
George Sibo, 31 died during a violent attack on the state collation centre in Twon- Brass.
Conveying the government’s plan to seek legal redress against the killers of Sibo, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Daniel Alabra, said that all those allegedly involved in the killing when the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the November 11 governorship poll, Chief Timipre Sylva, led his party members and supporters to invade the collation centre and held INEC officials hostage would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
At the burial of the deceased in Twon-Brass last Thursday, Governor Diri pointedly accused Sylva, who is also former Minister of State for Petroleum, of involvement in the death of the agent and directed the Attorney-General of the state to commence legal action against him and those he said had stormed the collation centre.
The Bayelsa governor who expressed sadness over the killing of Sibo, promised that the state government would bring the culprits to book and close a dark chapter in the November governorship poll, which he won, defeating Sylva.
Diri polled 175,196 votes to defeat Sylva of the APC, who scored 110,108 votes.
The APC and Sylva had insisted the election was massively rigged and filed a suit with the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
In May 2024, the tribunal, sitting in Abuja, affirmed the re-election of Governor Diri.
The Justice Adekunle Adeleye-led three-member tribunal dismissed as lacking in merit, the petition that was brought before it by APC and its governorship candidate.
In its unanimous decision, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to adduce any credible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations they raised against the outcome of the poll.
It struck out as incompetent all the additional proof of evidence, as well as statements on oath of some of the witnesses that testified for the petitioners.
According to the tribunal, the law expressly provided that an election petition must be filed not later than 21 days after the result of an election was declared.
It held that such a petition must at the time it was filed, be accompanied with written statements of all the intended witnesses.
The tribunal held that the decision of Sylva and his party to file their additional proof of evidence and statement on oath of witnesses, long after they had filed the petition, was “tantamount to a surreptitious attempt to amend the case of the petitioners.”
The APC and Sylva had directed his lawyers to appeal the judgement.
Shortly after the victory at the tribunal, the state government vowed to bring to book those it considered involved in the killing of Sibo. The burial on Thursday became the platform to declare its intention.
Speaking at the burial of the youngster where emotions ran high, Governor Diri opened the political chapter of the electioneering period, saying that as Chief Security Officer of the state, he declined to use his powers in the face of provocation against the main opposition party candidate in the election, Timipre Sylva, who prevented the PDP from campaigning in his community, Nembe-Bassambiri.
Explaining further that as governor, he deliberately did not challenge the excesses of the APC candidate as it would have resulted in the loss of innocent lives, Diri described Sibo as a hero, who died defending democracy.
He said: “There are many questions to answer. What was the candidate of the APC, Chief Timipre Sylva, doing at the collation centre in Twon-Brass, a day after the election? Why did he go there with the large crowd that killed this young man?
“I am in pain and that was why I directed that autopsy be carried out, which has been done. I have further directed the Attorney-General to institute a case against Timipre Sylva and all those that invaded the collation centre.
“The Attorney-General of Bayelsa State will institute legal action to unravel Sibo’s killers. The government of Bayelsa State is there to protect the lives of our people. I came here to mourn with you as we inter a promising young man of our state and of Brass kingdom.”
The governor also directed the immediate employment of the deceased’s two wives in the state civil service to enable them to take care of their children.
Responding, the Brass PDP Caucus Chairman, Chief Sam Ateke, stated that although the people of the area were saddened by the sudden death of their son, they were consoled by the esteemed presence of the governor and his entourage to sympathise with them.
Chief Ateke praised the governor for his resolve to unmask the killers of the party faithful through legal means and promised that the Brass people would cooperate with the government to get justice.
In the same vein, uncle of the deceased, Chief Bibi Williams, equally expressed gratitude to Governor Diri for honouring and respecting the sacrifice of their son for the PDP by coming to pay his last respects to Sibo.
In a swift reaction, Sylva described the government’s decision to probe him over the death of Sibo as a joke taken too far. He described the recourse to legal enquiry as a “clear symptom of deep seated fear,” on the part of the governor and dismissed the legal move as “dead on arrival.”
He explained that he knew nothing about the killing of Sibo, stating that he was neither in the town nor at the collation centre on the sad day of the incident. He mocked the governor for, “constituting himself into a forensic expert that made him a criminal investigator and concluded judgement before commencing investigation.”
Sylva’s Special Assistant, Media, Julius Bokoru, said the directive, which Diri gave to his attorney-general, had shown the governor’s desperation to deploy diversionary tactics and distractions against his case at the Appeal Court.
Bokoru said, “Chief Sylva is curious at what Diri’s apparent desperation can push him to do.
“Sylva knows nothing of the murder of George Sibo, an illustrious and promising youth of the state, it is important to note that by the time the young man died, Sylva was well out of the Island.”
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
