Benson insisted he remained the validly elected representative of the Southern Ijaw Constituency 4 seat. The appellate court had declared his April 11, 2015 election null and void. Benson, who also said he would not step down as the Speaker, insisted that the 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 , saying the record of proceedings on that day showed that the appeal of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, 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. Benson said, “On the 9th of December, the appeal court dismissed the appeal by Orunimighe challenging my election. On January 14, a purported judgment alleging that my election has been declared null and void emerged. This is strange and untrue. “What transpired in the open court in the presence of lawyers was outright dismissal of the appeal brought by my opponent. The judgment was delivered in the open court, thereby upholding my election in the House of Assembly.” To further clarify the issues, the Speaker said he had through his team of lawyers filed a motion on notice. Benson said in the suit, he prayed the Appeal Court to set aside the judgment that was not in conformity with its declaration in the open court on December 9. He said the motion on notice further prayed the court to make an order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission to stay execution on the judgment pending the determination of the motion on notice. He further said, “This motion has been served on the National Judicial Commission, President of the Appeal Court, the Department of Security Service, Commissioner of Police, Clerk of the House and other officers and some important personalities. “My team of lawyers and other lawyers who were in court have also in the same vein sworn to the affidavit to the fact that the judgment delivered in the open court was dismissed.” Benson said he remained the speaker and would continue to preside over the affairs of the House of Assembly pending the resolution of the case. But an opponent of Benson in the April 2015 Bayelsa State House of Assembly poll, Mr. Ebifaghe Orunimighe, has asked the Speaker to respect the judgment of Court of Appeal. Orunimighe had warned Benson during a news conference to stop parading himself as Speaker or risk going to prison. The APC candidate, who noted that his lawyers had begun a contempt process against Benson, had said, “Ordinarily, we should not have reacted to such fallacious publications, but our reticence may mislead the unseeming minds from discerning between reality and fiction. “Elementary intelligence, logic and common sense suggest that a person who claims to win a case should produce the judgment of the court confirming his victory. Where is the judgment delivered on December 9, 2015, where Konbowei claimed victory? “For the avoidance of doubt, let it be established right away that the unanimous judgment of the court of appeal delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko, JCA, on December 9, 2015 declared the election of Benson as the purported winner of the House of Assembly seat for southern Ijaw Constituency 4, held on the 11th April, 2015 as null and void.” Orunimighe said the Court of Appeal did not give two conflicting judgments as falsely claimed by Benson, noting that the judgment which sacked Benson was the only subsisting judgment and that Benson, including his team of lawyers, had copies of the judgment.]]>