Skip to main content

Bayelsa Judicial Commission of inquiry should be disbanded----- Observer Group



Our attention has been drawn to a fanthom judicial commission of enquiry sitting in Bayelsa state at the instant of the state government with a mandate to look into the purported violence that characterised the recent elections in the state. 

As an Observer group which monitored the Presidential, National Assembly and state house of assembly elections in Bayelsa State, we wish to state that this panel is an abuse of executive privilege in an attempt to cover up the role of the state government as led by Governor Seriake Dickson as regards the violence that was visited on the people during the polls. 

As an observer group, we had men and women who were deployed to all the local governments of Bayelsa state and reports gathered which form our position shows the violence of the election day was masterminded by the instrument of the state in connivance with the police using the power of incumbency to force the will of the people in her favour. 

Governor Dickson’s goal in setting up the panel is to mask his own terror and lawlessness at the polls.  The governor is setting up the panel is on a mission to thwart facts and colour truth towards indicting notable Bayelsans who were not seen anywhere near any site of the violence that broke out. 

Dickson specifically excoriated former Bayelsa State Governor and APC leader, Chief Timipre Sylva.

In Dickson’s panel, Sylva and APC stalwarts are guilty of hijacking of electoral materials, killings – and even terrorism.

 Expectedly, the panel has been awash with reports of “violence” by APC in parts of the state, particularly Twon-Brass and Bassambiri-Nembe.

What we witnessed and observed run contrary to these claims. 

In Twon-Brass for example, our observer there, one Okolosi Jerry, the Caretaker chairman of Brass, Victor Isaiah, stormed INEC Collation Centre with a bus load of thugs, rents the air with war chants. Mrs. Marie Ebikake, the PDP candidate for Brass/Nembe Federal House of Representatives, accompanied Isaiah. They went into the collation room with the intent to stop the collation and announcement of results.

Twon-Brass is the senatorial headquarters for Bayelsa East Senatorial district, and all election results from the area should be collated and announced in Twon-Brass and not Yenagoa where Victor Isaiah and Jonathan Obuebite (Bayelsa State Commissioner for Education), in connivance with the Nigerian Police, attempted to cart away election results.

This and many more of such reports we have from our observers and it then becomes laughable that the perpetrators of evil and arson are now same people crying fowl. 

We call on the Bayelsa state government to put an end to insulting our sensibilities by the charade called a panel of enquiry and have it disbanded and call on her to direct her officials who have been put under investigation for alleged role in the violence to cooperate and not use their offices and cover of government to evade justice. 

Nigeria's democracy can no longer be subjected to the executive recklessnes of these over ambitious governors and we here call for an immediate disbandment of the judicial panel of inquiry, as its continued operation amounts to executive recklessness.


For:

Network for Democracy and Transformation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Court Sets Aside Arrest, Remand, Wanted Declaration Against Hammed Tajudeen Akanbi

A Magistrate Court sitting in Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos, has set aside its earlier ex-parte order authorizing the arrest, remand, and “wanted” declaration of Hammed Tajudeen Akanbi, also known as Hammed Ajiran. The development follows the earlier declaration of Akanbi as wanted for alleged multiple murder by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Olorundare Jimoh, on February 19, 2026. However, in a ruling delivered today, Magistrate L.A. Owolabi of Magistrate Court 3 nullified the ex-parte order initially granted on February 16, 2026. In his decision, Magistrate Owolabi held that the order was obtained through the concealment of material facts. The court specifically noted that the counsel who filed and argued the application, Nosa Watson Uhumwangho, was under suspension by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee at the time and therefore lacked the right of audience before the court. The ruling sparked jubilation among members of the youth wing of the Ojomu royal family, who...
Post a Comment
Read more

Court Cautions Police, Orders Proper Invitation of Hammed Tajudeen Akanbi

A Lagos State Magistrate Court has cautioned the Lagos State Police Command and directed that proper procedures be followed in the handling of the case involving Mr. Hammed Tajudeen Akanbi, also known as Hammed Ajiran, in what is seen as a setback for individuals including Bashir Fakorede, Jide Akinloye, and Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG Jimoh Moshood. Presiding over proceedings in the Ogba Magisterial District, Magistrate A. J. Odueke, in Charge No: MISC/126/2026, held that the police must formally invite Akanbi rather than declare him wanted. The Court further stated that an order for arrest would only be considered if he fails to honour such an invitation. The Court noted that it was mindful of previous proceedings in Charge No: MCIK/60A/2026, where a similar application had earlier been set aside by another Magistrate on March 23, 2026, on the grounds of illegality. Consequently, the Court declined to entertain what it described as a repetition of a defective process. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

TASA Strengthens Alliance With Lagos Student Leaders, Sets Campus Mobilization in Motion Ahead of 2027 General Election

The Tinubu–Ambode Support Associates (TASA) today Wednesday, December 4, 2025, convened a strategic stakeholders’ meeting with student union leaders from across Lagos State, reaffirming the critical role of young people in shaping the democratic direction of the state as preparations intensify toward the 2027 general elections.   The meeting, attended by representatives of 11 tertiary institutions under the coordinated leadership of the Joint Campus Committee (JCC), NANS Lagos Chapter, provided a robust platform for frank political discourse, progressive engagement, and actionable strategies for youth driven political mobilization.   TASA leadership briefed the students on the urgent necessity of active participation in governance, noting that voter apathy particularly among young people significantly affected the 2023 general elections. The association emphasized that the era of leaving political decisions solely in the hands of politicians must end, as such disengagement onl...
Post a Comment
Read more