Lokpobiri supporters fault appeal court ruling, head to Supreme Court

Supporters of the former minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, have kicked against the ruling, Saturday, of the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State which dismissed his appeal against the emergence of Bayelsa State governor-elect, Chief David Lyon, as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the September 4, 2019 governorship primary of the party.

The  group which dubs itself as “Senator Lokpobiri supporters within the APC”, also declared that they have backed the senator’s decision to seek redress at the Supreme Court following the alleged faulty ruling of the Court of Appeal which affirmed that Lyon was the validly elected governorship flag bearer of APC for the November 16 gubernatorial election.

Speaking on behalf of  the group yesterday in Yenagoa,  Sunday Frank-Okputu described the ruling as unfortunate and the grounds of striking out the case at the appeal court based on timing as “extravagant which has no legal basis.”

Okputu explained that the decision to head to the Supreme Court was to determine if it is really out of time as claimed by the appeal court judges. He said on the court record, the case was filed on September 17, 2019 while the primary election of the APC was held on September 14, 2019 because the laws of the land including the Electoral Act had given every applicant 14 days to appeal.