There was a noticeable silence at the  Bayelsa state House of Assembly over the alleged refusal of its leadership to swear-in the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the April 11, 2015 Bayelsa state House of Assembly elections in Ogbia Constituency 3, Hon. Gabriel Ogbara as directed by the Court of Appeal, sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers state had in December annulled the April 11th, 2015 state House Assembly victory of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs. Naomi Ogoli and declare the ADC candidate, Gabriel Ogbara as duly elected member of the House.

The Court of Appeal, after annulling the PDP candidate’s victory and direct the withdrawal of the Certificate of Return issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ordered that the candidate of the ADC, Gabriel Ogbara be issued a Certificate of Return and sworn-in as duly elected member of the Assembly.

Our correspondent however, gathered last weekend that though the INEC has issued the ADC candidate his certificate of Return, the state House of Assembly is reluctant to abide by the directive of the Court.

While some members of the state House of Assembly denied the alleged claim of reluctance to obey the Court order, and attributed the delay to the ongoing controversy triggered by a ruling from the Court of Appeal against the Speaker, Hon. Kombowei Benson.

Others claimed that the delay was caused by the ongoing discussion between the ADC leadership and the PDP on some soft landing for the sacked PDP member and absence of the state governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson.

When contacted on the development, the state Chairman of the ADC, Brisibe Kpodo, denied any secret discussion between the PDP and the ADC over the matter, and asked, “Who told you that the House of Assembly is reluctant to swear in our candidate. We don’t want to grant any media chat now. When the time is ripe, we will answer questions from the media”.

Daily Times Correspondent however, gathered that the silence of the ADC leadership was caused by the secret pact between the party and the PDP ahead of the just concluded governorship election in the state.

Reacting to the victory at the Court of Appeal, the ADC candidate, Gabriel Ogbara promised to give his people effective representation following his declaration as winner of the poll by the appeal court.