The reason the Supreme
Court yesterday sacked Da-
vid Lyon and his deputy as
governor-elect and deputy
governor-elect of Bayelsa State was the
provision of false information to INEC
in reference to the names and docu-
ments of the deputy governor-elect for
their gubernatorial election held last
November 16.
The nullification of their election
came less than 24 hours to their in-
auguration in Yenagoa – an event for
which Lyon has been shown rehears-
ing on video and photos.
In its judgement, a panel of five jus-
tices of the Supreme Court presided
over by Justice Mary Peter-Odili and
delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko, or-
dered the Independent National Elec-
toral Commission to withdraw the
certificate of return issued to Lyon and
his deputy.
Justice Ejembi Eko, while reading the
judgment, noted that the “claims” by
the deputy governor-elect appeared to
be “fraudulent”, as he had used “sev-
eral names variously chameleonically
to suit the changing environment.”He
ruled that the deputy governor-elect’s
disqualification on the basis of sub-
mitting false information to INEC had
infected the joint ticket with which he
and Lyon contested the election and
emerged victorious.
The deputy governor-elect claimed
to have obtained “his First School
Leaving Certificate in 1976” and pre-
sented to INEC “a First Leaving School
Certificate of one Degi Biobaragha
other than the one bearing his name
Biobaragha Degi-Eremieoyo as shown
in his INEC Form CF001”.
He also claimed to have “obtained
his West African Examinations Coun-
cil General Certificate of Education in
1984” and presented to INEC, “a GCE
certificate of one Adegi Bibakuo other
than the one bearing his name Biobar-
akuma Degi-Eremieoyo as shown in
his INEC Form CF001.”
The names on the different docu-
ments attached to his Form CF001
were said to be, Biobarakum De-
gi-Eremienyo, Degi Biobaragha, Degi
Biobarakuma, Adegi Biobakunmo,
Degi-Eremienyo Wangagha. FIVE
DIFFERENT NAMES!
Recall that Justice Inyang Ekwo of
the Federal High Court in Abuja had,
on November 12, disqualified the APC
governor-elect on the grounds that his
deputy provided false information to
INEC.
Justice Ekwo held that there was no
connection between the name on the
candidate’s school-leaving certificate,
first degree (BA), master’s degree and
the affidavits he swore to.
However, the Court of Appeal set
aside the decision of the High Court
and affirmed the election of the APC
candidates.
The three-member panel of the ap-
pellate court led by Justice Stephen
Adah said that the PDP did not prove
their case against the APC candidates.
The court held that Degi-Eremienyo
submitted an affidavit which showed
evidence of his change of name from
Adeyi-Eremienyo to Degi-Eremienyo.
The appellate court said it agreed
with the appellant that the owner of
the school leaving certificate and the
GCE certificate were one and the same
and therefore, set aside the judgment
of the lower court.
But the Appeal Court’s ruling was
junked by the Supreme Court yester-
day and it has caused both jubilation
and confusion, not just in Bayelsa
State but within the political parties
involved and the entire political class,
nay, the whole nation.
So, the question – what’s in a name?
Many of us take it for granted that we
can answer any name we like or that
appeals to us.
Somehow, the Bank Verification
Number, has come out to sanitize the
way many of us change our names in
suspicious circumstances. You cannot
be abbreviating your name anyhow or
using variants as you please when such
can be abused.
An old friend called me frantically in
the 90s and needed some intervention
with the US Embassy because an old
relative of hers was stuck. The gen-
tleman had come in from the United
States and in his bid to go back, pre-
sented some certificates and other
documents at the embassy and he was
bounced.
What was the issue? The man had
been residing in the US with the name
Austin in his documents. In process-
ing his return documents, some of the
certificates he presented had the name
Augustine and the embassy said that’s
not his name. He tried to prove that
his Austin is the short form of Au-
gustine but the Embassy said ‘No’. In
the US, the short form of Augustine
is Gus while Austin is a name on its
own, like the popular General Austin
or the capital of Texas, Austin, named
in honour of Stephen F. Austin, known
as the “Father of Texas”.
Remember the old case or Evans or
Evan Enwerem, who served as Presi-
dent of the Nigerian Senate in 1999?
In real sense, the internationally ac-
ceptable short form of William is Bill,
not Will or Willy; Robert is Bob, not
Rob or Robby; Jack used to be the
nickname for John, although Jack has
now assumed its own identity. Those
whose name is Ike and choose to write
Iyke have better stick to one because
while it is easy to say Ike is short for
Ikechukwu, Iyke is on its own.
Although the Supreme Court said
yesterday that the ex-deputy gover-
nor-elect seemed to have “fraudu-
lently used several names variously
chameleonically to suit the changing
environment”, his fault could be a
penchant for variants, especially in ab-
breviations, because practically all the
names listed seemed to be linked in
meaning and pronunciation, although
there were cases of insertion of ad-
ditional names in some of his docu-
ments.
It is a great lesson to learn and a huge
price to pay, if he was just playing
around with his names. If he has been
fraudulent as the apex court has ruled,
then Nemesis has caught up with him.
