The Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja has summoned the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, to testify before it.
A three-member panel of judges led by Justice Ibrahim Sirajo yesterday ordered Ewhrudjakpo to appear today (Wednesday)
as a witness in a petition by the candidate of the Liberation Movement (LM) in the November 16, 2019, governorship election in the state alleging false information on certificate given to INEC by the deputy governor.
Earlier, Counsel to the deputy governor, Chukwuma Machukwu-Ume (SAN), informed the tribunal that he was withdrawing the motion, dated May 15, 2020, and filed on May 17, 2020, where he demanded facilities to enable him attend the proceedings in Abuja from Yenegoa. Lawyers to INEC, PDP, and Governor Duoye Diri, Ibrahim Bawa (SAN), Emmanuel Enoidem and Gordy Uche (SAN), did not object to the withdrawal of the motion.
Earlier, the Head of Legal Services of the Department of State Services (DSS), Abdulsalam Ibrahim, testified that their finding was that an alteration was done by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the instance of Ewhrudjakpo. He said they were directed by an Area Court in Lugbe, Abuja, in a letter dated February 22, 2020, to investigate the NYSC Exemption Certificate of the current Bayelsa State deputy governor.
