For Forging Bayelsa Guber Election Results, Group Ready To Sue Sylva, APC Chair

Worried by revelations from the gubernatorial election petition tribunal that the APC candidate in the November 11 election, Chief Timipre Sylva and the party’s state chairman, Dennis Otiotio presented forged election results to the tribunal and on oath, a Socio-Political and Integrity Group, the Bayelsa Renaissance is set to drag the duo to court.

Aside from this, the group is doing a formal petition against Otiotio to the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA. They want Sylva and Otiotio to be punished for the offence which was made public by the tribunal when it delivered judgement on Sylva’s petition.

Otiotio will be referred to the Legal Practitioner Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) prosecuted based on Section 12 of the Legal Practitioners Act seeking sanctions against him in the alleged infamous professional misconduct and manipulation of judicial processes, bearing false witness during the just concluded Bayelsa Governorship petition tribunal.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Adekunle Adeleye, had said that Sylva and Otiotio brought fake polling units results in form EC8A to court under oath, even as he added that Otiotio breached the legal profession’s code of conduct by bringing himself into the case as a witness.

“Is it not ridiculous for a lawyer? Justice Adekeye made it clear that Otiotio’s action is purely professional misconduct. He signed the petition of Chief Sylva as his lawyer, the same Otiotio was listed as one of the counsel and in another breadth, he subjected himself to becoming a witness in same case. This is a man who had equally served as the APC state collation agent. His cups are full”, Mr. Imomotimi Abraham, President of Bayelsa Renaissance stated.

Abraham stated that the action of Sylva and Otiotio constituted electoral malpractice, a situation where no single INEC official came to defend any of the units results presented by Sylva.

“We will follow up this infractions, broad day light robbery that they want to carry out. It is shameful to be presenting fake documents to the courts. We won’t allow this to slide. This is bad behaviour. The tribunal judgment is sound enough to establish handwriting forgery, perjury and clear electoral fraud against Sylva and Otiotio”, he said.