A Federal High Court sitting in Owerri yesterday dismissed the suit filed by Chief Timi Alaibe seeking to upturn the governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which produced Governor Duoye Diri as the party’s flagbearer in the state.
Alaibe had sought, among other reliefs, to set aside the governorship primary election on the ground that the local government chairmen that participated in the election were not qualified.
In his ruling, Justice Tijjani Ringim said the plaintiff had failed to prove that the gubernatorial primary conducted on September 3, 2019 failed to comply with the provisions of the Constitution of the PDP and the 1999 Constitution as amended. He dismissed the suit in its entirety.
Meanwhile, Diri has described the judgement as an affirmation of God’s will for the people of the state.
The governor, while reacting to the judgement through a statement by his acting Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, dedicated the victory to the people of Bayelsa State and Ijaw people.
He however asked Alaibe, who challenged his candidature to join hands him to develop and move the state forward.
Meanwhile, protesters yesterday stormed the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) demanding the Prince Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) to expel Alaibe.
The protesters, under the aegis of PDP National Youth Rebirth Forum, stormed the main entrance to the party’s national secretariat carrying banners and placards with different inscriptions such as “Alaibe is APC agent”, “PDP NWC must act now”, among many others.
In a letter addressed to Secondus, titled, “Bayelsa PDP primary ticket crisis: Expel Timi Alaibe now to forestall a repeat of Kogi outcome” and read by the National President of the PDP National Youth Rebirth Forum, Bonire Solomon who led the protest, said the party needed peace and unity to reclaim power in 2023.
