Some leaders of the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP) have disowned the August 17, 2020 judgment of the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Tribunal which voided the victory of Governor Douye Diri and ordered a fresh election within 90 days.

Speaking at the weekend in Abuja, James Pere Femowei, who claimed to be ANDP’s National Chairman, said the party – at the state and national levels – did not authorise the petition on which the tribunal based its judgment.

Femowei, who read a statement he signed as ANDP National Chairman and Quadru-Adu S. Kehinde as its National Secretary, said the party did not field candidates for the last governorship election in Bayelsa State on November 16, 2019.

He faulted Charles Ogboli’s claim to being the party’s National Chairman, saying Ogboli had allegedly been sacked from the position and expelled from the party since December 8, 2018.

The developments, he insisted, were communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Femowei, who said he was the party’s National Legal Adviser while Ogboli was its National Chairman, added that himself and other leaders of the party learnt about the case at the tribunal few days before judgment.

He said: “It is our avowed intention to be joined in the suit and raise preliminary objections to the locus of Chief Ogboli to have filed the suit in the first instance.

“The ANDP, as a party, did not field any candidate for the governorship election in Bayelsa State. ANDP in Bayelsa State did not sue INEC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or Governor Douye Diri; ANDP at the national level did not sue INEC, the PDP or Governor Diri. ANDP in Bayelsa State did not present any candidate for the purpose of contesting the November 16, 2019 governorship election, as it had earlier adopted Senator Douye Diri of the PDP.

“The National Working Committee (NWC) or State Exco did not attend any purported ANDP primary in Bayelsa State before the election. How, where, when, which and how was the primary held without the involvement of the party organs in the state?

“Ogboli should thus produce the list of members who attended the primaries; or INEC can equally produce the attendance list of the NWC members and the State Exco who were present at the ANDP primaries.

“It is instructive to note that the purported ANDP candidate and the presumed deputy withdrew from the suit when the full extent of the charade was brought to their notice.

“The NWC is responsible for conducting primary elections at states and local government levels.