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With the failure of all efforts to resolve the political stalemate in Bayelsa State to pave the way for Timipre Sylva to run for second term, the court becomes the only option available. But can the judiciary assert its independence on this issue?

What hope for  Timipre Sylva in his current battle to secure the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, ticket for the February 11, 2011 governorship election in Bayelsa State? That question dominated discussions last week, after eight PDP governors rose from a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan, the third in the series of such meeting, to get him to intervene in the political imbroglio in his home state which is threatening the re-election bid of Sylva.

Jonathan is widely believed to be the unseen hand behind the crisis leading to the disqualification of Sylva for the governorship race. But he has used every opportunity he has had to deny his involvement. At the latest meeting of some PDP governors with Jonathan on Tuesday, November 22, at the Presidential Villa, the president had again rejected the suggestion that he intervened to save Sylva from the humiliation of being denied his party’s gubernatorial ticket. Sources close to some of those at the meeting told Newswatch that all appeals by the governors to make the president change his mind failed. He was said to have told the governors that the matter was already in court and he would not like to be seen as meddling with the judicial process. The outcome of that meeting seemed to have sealed the hope that the matter could be resolved in favour of Sylva and out of court.

 By Wednesday, last week, Sylva who had been in Abuja with some of his aides to find an amicable resolution to  the crisis, had returned to Bayelsa.

That leaves the embattled governor with the court as his last hope. But will the court restore his hope of becoming a candidate in the governorship election in the state next February?  The governor’s camp is, however, not optimistic that the judiciary will prove helpful in the case. Those who hold this view, among them,  some of the governor’s very close associates, think the present set- up at the Appeal Court where the PDP has taken the case to, was unlikely to serve Sylva’s purpose. They believe that the Appeal Court may have come too much under the control of the presidency with its present leadership, a situation that may adversely affect its independence.

 One of the factors being cited is the circumstances in which Justice DalhatuAdamu emerged as acting president of the Court of Appeal. At the time of his appointment, Dalhatu Adamu, then a member of the Sokoto Judicial Division which had also become controversial following the handling of the gubernatorial appeal against the Sokoto State governor, was not the most senior justice on that bench. He only emerged leader of the Appeal Court as the favourite choice of the establishment.  Yet another factor is that he is still serving in that position in an acting capacity. His acting appointment is renewable every three months.

Sylva’s men believe that with such terms of appointment, the Appeal Court under Adamu was unlikely to be under pressure and incapable of making any judicial pronouncement that could offend those who gave him the job and whose responsibility it is to approve the quarterly renewal. Sylva’s loyalists also believe that this was part of the PDP’s calculation in taking the case straight to the Appeal Court. The Appeal Court is to determine if the party complied with the constitution of the party in the conduct of its governorship primary which has become very controversial. The primaries led to the emergence of Henry Seriake Dickson, a member of the House of Representatives as the party’s flag bearer for the February 11, 2012 governorship election.

The primary which produced Dickson has also been punctured on several grounds. Many people have condemned its outcome. One such ground was the absence of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The electoral body is required under the nation’s electoral laws to be present at party primaries as an observer. This is to enable it determine if the party conducting the exercise complied with its own rules and the requirements of the Electoral Act.

 Apart from INEC, several other critical stakeholders whose presence would have given legitimacy to the primary election also boycotted the exercise. President Jonathan was not in attendance. He was very visible during the previous primary election held in January, this year which Sylva won. Sylva and Werinipre Sebarugu, his deputy, boycotted it. All the three senators from the state equally boycotted the exercise. And so did five out of the six members of the House of Representatives from the state. The only member of the House of Representatives who attended was Dickson, who was himself  a contestant and was declared winner at the end of the exercise. His colleagues from the House stayed away. Also, 22 members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly boycotted it. Ten out of the 14 members of the state executive council of the PDP in the state also stayed away. Other organs of the party in the local governments in the state also stayed away.

These boycotts did a lot of damage to the credibility of the exercise. Only a few people of note attended, among them, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former governor of Bayelsa State who sources said was not even supposed to be admitted to the primaries because of his status as an ex-convict.

Jonathan’s absence was later explained by Reuben Abati, his spokesman. Abati said the president decided to stay away in order to allow a level playing field for the success of the exercise. But whether this was achieved was another issue entirely. Many people believe it was not achieved and that the exercise was not credible.

The atmosphere in Yenagoa on the day of the controversial primary is one of the factors cited by those on the side of Sylva as the reason why the exercise was discredited. On that day, there was an unusual presence of soldiers and police, all armed to the teeth. The streets of Yenagoa were literally dotted by roadblocks and people were frisked to the pants. Armed personnel carriers were also deployed at strategic locations in the town and people whose presence at the venue of the exercise would have negatively impacted on the intended outcome of the exercise were allegedly prevented from attendance. A lot of people stayed away from the venue for fear of their personal safety.

Sylva’s loyalists believe that these were obvious shortcomings and that they negatively affected the credibility of the exercise. But whether that is, indeed so, is the prerogative of the courts to determine.

The present political crisis in Bayelsa State has a long history. The relationship between Jonathan and Sylva has not been very cordial for a long time. There have been rumours of distrust and mutual suspicion between the two top politicians who were at a point political rivals.  But both men had always tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to keep their problem away from the public domain by denying the existence of any rift between them.

In 2006, both of them ran for the gubernatorial ticket of the PDP in the state. Jonathan won. Sylva came second. While Jonathan was preparing for the actual election, he was picked as presidential running mate to the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who emerged the PDP flagbearer.  The development created a vacuum that had to be filled. Most people felt that the slot should go to the person who came second in the primary that had produced Jonathan as governorship candidate.  Jonathan felt differently. He rather supported Francis Doukpola. Sylva was shocked that Jonathan did not support his candidacy and this led to a long battle between the two men.

After intense power play, with the interference of PDP chieftains, including Edmund Daukoru, former petroleum minister, Sylva triumphed, becoming the party’s candidate in the 2007 governorship race.  However, Jonathan was later allowed to nominate Peremobowei Ebebi, his loyalist, who eventually became the deputy to Sylva. That arrangement turned out to be a marriage of incompatible partners and the deputy governor was eventually impeached. 

Suspicion and distrust has remained an unfortunate feature of the relationship between Jonathan and Sylva up till today. Political camps also developed along these lines and friends and political associates of the two men did not help matters. They rather helped in exacerbating the situation, sometimes for their own selfish reasons. Some of those who had reason to disagree with Sylva found easy accommodation with Jonathan. These encouraged sharp political cleavages that have continued to threaten relations between the two politicians.

At a point, during the political crisis at the federal level caused by the prolonged absence of the late Yar’Adua from the country due to illness, rumours became rife that Sylva was against Jonathan being made acting president and that he had allegedly voted N500 million for the execution of that agenda, an allegation which the governor took pains to douse.

At a point also, rumours became rife that Sylva was about to be impeached and that Jonathan was the unseen hand behind the move. The president also took pains to explain his non-involvement.  These accusations and counter accusations were never actually proven, but they went along way in damaging the relationship between the two men. The damage has become worse with the decision of PDP to disqualify Sylva from running for its ticket.

Two main issues have featured prominently in the current crisis in the state. One is the alleged non-performance of Sylva while the second is the allegation said to be backed by audio recording of the voice of Sylva threatening to deal with Jonathan and his wife.

Sylva has been accused of non-performance, particularly, not completing projects, some of which were started by the administration that came before his. A source close to the Sylva group said the issue of non-performance was being dramatised out of proportion. He said while this may be correct only to a small extent, the governor should not be blamed for it. Rather, it should be blamed on the political power bloc in the state which had been pitted against him since he became governor and made him to lose concentration. “Nobody in the position that Sylva had been since he became governor could have performed better. They keep on saying Sylva has not worked satisfactorily. How can he work when they won’t allow him to work?”

The source blamed the lapses on the part of the governor on Jonathan, Diezani Allison- Madueke, minister of petroleum, Timi Alaibe, former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and Andrew Azazi, national security adviser to the president. “While I will not completely exonerate Sylva on this point, the political power bloc in the state should take a substantial part of the blame. They are part of the distraction which the Sylva administration has suffered and should be held responsible for whatever lapses that have been noticed”, the source said.

 The source also addressed the allegation that Sylva threatened the president and his wife. “The truth is that Sylva did not threaten anybody and there is no audio recording anywhere to support that allegation. It is mere beer palour gossip”, he said. Sylva was said to have spoken angrily to Azibapu Eruani, his former commissioner for health, who had refused re-appointment and defected to the president’s  political camp. Sylva was said to have been angered by the circumstances in which the former commissioner quit his job. But the source said Sylva could not have threatened the president who is the symbol of the nation and who also is a respected son of Bayelsa. “This allegation is again coming from those who are reaping from the ongoing crisis and who do not want it to end “, he said.

The reason for the disqualification of Sylva from the race for the PDP governorship ticket has also remained a subject of controversy. The governor had earlier been screened by the party’s screening committee for the election and was given a certificate of “fitness” for the race. That explains the controversy. What did the party later discover against Sylva that informed the latter’s decision to stop him? Sylva has insisted that he has done no wrong to warrant his party’s hammer. The party hierarchy has not helped the situation either. Abubakar Baraje, acting national chairman of PDP, has not been forthcoming on this issue. Rather than telling the public the reason for the party’s action, he asked Sylva to tell the public himself the reason for the party’s decision. The question is when did Sylva become the party’s spokesman? This approach has fuelled the suspicion that the party probably did not have strong reason for its action or that forces outside its hierarchy might be behind the decision

The decision on Sylva is also a prove of PDP’s reputation for double standards. It had earlier decided that all it governors eligible for second term would he given automatic tickets. And this was applied in all the cases except that of Sylva. Even in Adamawa State where Umar Aido disagreed with that decision, the party made sure he was frustrated out of the exerase.

Ardo had said he would run against Murtala Nyako, Adamawa State governor. The party, heaving failed to persuade him to drop his plan, decided to make a fool of him. He was encouraged to buy the party’s governorship ticket form. The screening committee also did its job and he was subsequently cleared for the race. But that’s how far he was to go. Thereafter, he was kept out of everything about the promise. All these were to ensure a smooth road for the emergence of Nyako. But the party failed to do so for Sylva.

Since this crisis began, Sylva and many of his sympathisers which include some state governors have spent most of the time in Abuja to sort things out. They held series of meetings with those they believe could help turn things around but these efforts had not proved fruitful as at the end of last week. The governors who have stood behind him solidly on this issue include  Chibuike Amaechi, Rivers State, who is also the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio, Akwa Ibom State, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta, and  Liyel Imoke of Cross River State. They were all acting on behalf of the Governors’ Forum to which all state governors in Nigeria belong.

The Bayelsa political stalemate has remained a dominant subject since it became public several months ago and attracted a lot of reactions. The boycott of the Bayelsa PDP primaries showed that Sylva has a lot of sympathy in the state. Outside the state, some highly placed persons also reacted by advising Jonathan to handle the situation carefully so that it does not eventually lead to a backlash that would eventually spell doom for the PDP in his home state.  Among those who have offered such wise counsel to the president on the issue are Yakubu Gowon, former head of state, and Shehu Shagari, former Nigerian president. Both men who are highly respected northern voices wanted Jonathan to act like a statesman that he is, for the heated political atmosphere in his state to ease off.

So far, all those intervention have not really altered the situation significantly. That has left the burden of resolving the issue on the judiciary. But sources said that Sylva and his associates are doubtful if the judiciary would help his case because of the tendency for the judiciary to allow itself to be manipulated. That tendency is the reason for the reforms that Musdapher, chief justice of Nigeria seems determined to start.