Bayelsa Guber Polls: Drama as Five witnesses fail to appear in court against Maciver

…As Amnesty Office apologies to Sylva’s running mate

There was drama at the Federal High Court Yenagoa following the failure of a governorship aspirant, of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Mrs Isikima Ogbomade Johnson, to produce witnesses lined up to prove her case of ineligibility against Mr Great Joshua Maciver, deputy-governorship candidate of the party.

This is just as the Presidential Amnesty Office (PAP) has tendered an unreserved apology to Maciver over the poor documentation of the office which has led to misrepresentations in some quarters.

Mrs Johnson had through her counsel; Mr Kuroiyedoughe Elijah on Friday, September 30 told Justice Olaide Quadri of the Federal High Court Yenagoa that she had lined up ten witnesses against Maciver.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Tuesday, October 3, five witnesses who were expected to appear did not show up prompting her counsel to seek an adjournment to 7am Wednesday morning.

However, drama occurred at the resumed hearing on Wednesday when the only two witnesses produced did not come with relevant documents prompting the counsel to seek another adjournment till Thursday, October 5.

Counsels to APC, and to Chief Timipre Sylva and Maciver, Mr Sylvester Elema, SAN and Mr Moses Ebute SAN in an interview said they are ready to tackle the petitioner in court. While Elema insisted that the suit against Maciver was “irretrievably flawed”, Ebute expressed surprise that the witnesses have not been able to provide anything.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government through the office of Secretary of the Federation has issued an unreserved apology on behalf of the Amnesty Office for denying that Maciver was truly a beneficiary of the unconditional presidential pardon by late former President, Umaru Yar’Adua.

The letter signed by the Interim Administrator of PAP, Major General Barry Ndiomu (retd) dated August 24, 2023, and sent through the office of the SGF, t blamed the “urgency of confirmation” by the Technical and Data Unit of PAP for the misrepresentation of the presidential pardon status of Maciver.

Parts of the letter read “I am writing in response to your letter with Reference: SGF.19/S/105/178 dated 7 July 2023, as well as this organization’s reply under Reference OIA/PAP/IAO/VOL V/417 dated 7th July 2023, concerning Mr Joshua Maciver’s status as a beneficiary of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

“I would like to mention that due to the urgency of the confirmation, our Technical and Data Unit provided information hastily, as indicated by the dates of both the received letter and our response.

“Upon thorough investigation, we have identified an oversight in our records regarding Mr.Joshua MacIver’s PAP beneficiary status. It has now been established that Mr MacIver received an unconditional pardon from the Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Maciver in his reaction to the letter said that he has always had confidence that he was innocent of the allegations levelled against him by the PDP.

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