Appeal Court Voids Election of Bayelsa Governor

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000152 SIPDIS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- HANDLE ACCORDINGLY SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W STATE FOR INR/AA DOE FOR George Person E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM NI SUBJECT: Appeal Court Voids Election of Bayelsa Governor Sensitive But Unclassified; Handle Accordingly ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On April 15, a federal appeals court overturned the election of Bayelsa Governor Timipre Sylva. Pursuant to the court's order, on April 16 the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Werinipe Seibarugu, was sworn in as acting governor pending a new election to be held within 90 days. According to an official in the Sylva Administration, President Yar'Adua weighed in by telephone from Germany to assure that rivalries between supporters of Vice President Jonathan and Governor Sylva did not delay implementation of the court order. However, the Jonathan faction makes up a majority of the People's Democratic Party in the state, and could shift support to an opposition candidate willing to do the faction's bidding. End Summary. ¶2. (U) On April 15, the federal appeals court sitting in the Rivers State Capital of Port Harcourt overturned the April 2007 election of People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Timipre Sylva as Governor of Bayelsa State. The court ordered that the Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly be sworn in as acting governor pending a fresh election to be held within 90 days. According to press reports, the ruling stated that the election tribunal erred in concluding that the 2007 gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State had taken place and had been free and fair. The court held that the petitioner, Action Congress (AC) candidate Timi Amgbare had provided clear and convincing evidence that no election had taken place. The court held that an election reporting document, from which every other form derives information, was conspicuous by its absence in the set of documents presented to the tribunal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),and that consequently, the court could conclude that no meaningful election had taken place in the state. ¶3. (U) The court's order occasioned another round of competition between supporters of Vice President and former Governor Goodluck Jonathan and former Governor Sylva. The group loyal to Sylva is made up of party executives elected during a controversial state party congress held on February 21 in violation of a directive of the state's party caucus, composed of Vice President Jonathan and other prominent party members. That directive stated that the former party executive should remain in place as part of an on going effort to reconcile aggrieved party members. According to press reports, the Vice President's supporters launched allegations that Sylva had misappropriated funds that are part of the federal allocation and had taken out a loan without obtaining the approval of the State House of Assembly. The press reported that, following the announcement of the decision of the tribunal but before a copy of the decision could be received in Yenagoa, the Vice President's supporters moved to impeach Senate President Seibarugu and to put in place their own candidate for speaker. ¶4. (U) An official serving in Governor Sylva's administration told Pol-Econ Chief that President Yar'Adua himself had intervened by telephone from Germany to say that the court's ruling was clear, and that there was no need to wait to swear in Speaker Seibarugu until a copy of the decision had been received. The official stressed that there is no ill-will between the Vice President and former Governor Sylva, and that the competition between their supporters does not extend to the principals. ¶5. (SBU) The official also told Poloff that former Governor Sylva will be the PDP candidate in the new election and predicted he will win. Asked if he thought the new election would be free and fair, the official replied that it would have to be; the entire PDP apparatus has been embarrassed by the ruling, he said, and will not risk additional humiliation. The official stated that he anticipated that there would be election monitors in place to oversee the elections and to assure that the former Governor's new mandate is seen as legitimate. Acting Governor Seibarugu has indicated that he will continue many of the reforms set in motion by Governor Sylva, the official said, including due process, government procurement and fiscal responsibility initiatives. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: While the pro-Vice President Jonathan PDP faction, which opposes former Governor Sylva, appears to have been quieted by pronouncements from the President and Party Chairman Vincent Ogbulafor, it does make up a large percentage of the Bayelsa PDP. They could decide at any time to cause problems for former Governor Sylva in his re-election bid by shifting their support to any opposition candidate who indicates a willingness to do the faction's bidding (meaning payoffs and influence). Nonetheless, Sylva appears to still have influence with his former cabinet and with this the ability to guide the elections in his favor as well. End Comment. LAGOS 00000152 002 OF 002 ¶7. (U) This cable was cleared by Embassy Abuja. BLAIR