The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned the disqualification of Timipre Sylva as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
A three-member panel, in a unanimous judgement yesterday, held that the trial court which nullified Sylva’s candidature lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit filed by an APC member, Demesuoyefa Kolomo, having not been an aspirant in the primary election that produced the ex-minister of petroleum as candidate.
The court also awarded the sum of N1 million in favour of Sylva for each of the two appeals: CA/ABJ/CV/1060/2023 between APC and Kolomo and CA/ABJ/CV/1061/2023 between Sylva vs. Kolomo and two others.
Sylva’s appeals were against the October 9 judgement delivered by Justice Donatus Okorowo of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which disqualified him as a candidate in the November 11 governorship election.
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Kolomo who described himself as a registered voter had, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023 filed on June 3, prayed the court to delete Sylva’s name from the list of candidates vying for the election, having taken an oath of office twice as governor of the state.
Citing the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, Okorowo noted that the drafters of the country’s constitution stated that nobody should be voted for as governor more than twice and that the parties to the suit agreed that Sylva was voted into office two times.
He further stated that the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope.
So, if Sylva is allowed to contest the next election, it means a person can contest as many times as they wish.
The suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023 was filed on June 13, 2023 by Deme Kolomo, a member of the APC.
Sylva visits Ganduje, says no setback
Shortly after his victory at the Court of Appeal, Sylva visited the APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, where they held a short meeting at the APC national secretariat in Abuja.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Sylva said he was confident of winning the election.
“We don’t really have setbacks. We are still reaching out to our people. The people of Bayelsa love us and we are going to take off from where we stopped. It is clear to the blind and the deaf that we are going to win,” he said.
Prepare handover notes, APC tells Diri
Meanwhile, the APC has asked the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State, Governor Duoye Diri, to prepare handover notes now that the Court of Appeal has cleared its candidate, Timipre Sylva, to contest the poll.
Secretary of the APC governorship campaign council in Bayelsa State, Yekini Nabena, in a statement on Monday said Diri won’t “escape the judgement of the masses.”
Nabena, a former deputy national publicity secretary of the APC, said: “We are using this medium to tell Governor Diri and his cohorts that there is no room for black market victory in this election. It is either you come clean or leave the race, but certainly, no court will save Diri from heavy defeat this time around.
“History is not about to repeat itself because Governor Diri is not known for ever winning any clear electoral contest and the people of Bayelsa are tired of an accidental governor.
“Our people are yearning for development, and our candidate’s six-point agenda is not ambiguous. Experiences of our amiable candidate will surely be an added advantage, coupled with his link with the APC at the centre and the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda.
“So, we promise to give the people of Bayelsa a new lease of life once we are able to chase away this government of inefficiency and wastefulness.”
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