– Governor Seriake Dickson claims that his predecessor Timipre Sylva, still owes him N500,000 judgment debt since 2012

– Dickson says Sylva has no respect for the judiciary

– He says if Sylva had respect for the judiciary he would have paid him N500,000 as ordered by the Supreme Court in 2012

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state on Monday, October 10, claimed that former governor Timipre Sylva, still owes him N500,000 since 2012.

This comes even as the governor said that Sylva, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Bayelsa governorship election, has no respect for the judiciary, The Sun reports.

According to Dickson, if Sylva had respect for the judiciary he would have paid him (Dickson) N500,000 as ordered by the Supreme Court in 2012.

This follows a suit recently filed by Sylva and the APC at the Supreme Court to appeal the judgment of the appellate court which upheld the election of Dickson.

Sylva is asking the apex court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, which dismissed the appeal seeking to overturn the decision of the Bayelsa state election petitions tribunal which upheld the election of Dickson.

However, speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, Dickson alleged that Sylva held the Supreme Court in contempt in 2012 but returned to the same court for justice.

The Bayelsa governor claims that Sylva committed contempt of court in 2012 by refusing to pay him the   sum of N500,000, being the amount the Supreme Court ordered him (Sylva) to pay him as damages for "abusing court process and for wasting the time of the justices."

Dickson's statement read in part: "After Sylva's futile attempt to challenge his victory at the Supreme Court, Sylva committed contempt of Court in 2012 by refusing to pay him the sum of N.5m being the amount the Supreme Court ordered him to pay him as damages for abusing court process and for wasting the time of the justices.

"Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, who read the lead judgment, was hard on the former governor for wasting the time of the court and awarded N500,000 as cost to be paid to Dickson, the third respondent, whereas the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP, who were listed as first and second defendants, were to bear their costs.

"Sylva is yet to pay me the sum of N500,000 as ordered by the highest court in the land, thereby disrespecting the apex court. It is therefore surprising that it is still the same apex court Sylva is returning to ask the Supreme Court to remove Governor  Seriake Dickson on the  frivolous grounds that the election which brought him to office was unknown to law."

Dickson was elected for second term in January after he was declared ?the winner of the Bayelsa state governorship election with a total of 134,998 votes.

He defeated his closest rival, Chief Timipre Sylva of the APC, who scored 86,852 votes.


Source: http://nigerianewsonline.com.ng/pdp-governor-claims-his-predecessor-owes-him-n-5m/