As the controversy surrounding the judgement of the Court of Appeal rages on, Speaker, Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mr. Kombowei Benson, has insisted he will not vacate his seat.
Benson insisted he remained the validly elected representative of the Southern Ijaw Constituency 4 seat which the appellate court declared his April 11, 2015 election null and void.
Benson, who also said he would not step down as the Speaker, insisted that the purported written judgment was different from the record of court’s proceeding on December 9, 2015.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, in a written judgment delivered on December 9, 2015 nullified the April 2015 election that returned Benson.
But about 52 days after, Benson faulted the authenticity of the written judgment, saying the record of proceedings on that day showed that the appeal of the APC candidate, Mr. Ebifaghe Orunimighe, was dismissed in the open court.
Addressing journalists in his office at the House of Assembly complex Yenagoa, Benson insisted that the ruling of December 9, 2015 upheld his election and dismissed the appeal filed by the APC candidate.
