Supreme Court upholds Diri’s re-election as Bayelsa governor

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the re-election of Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Governor of Bayelsa State.

The court dismissed the appeal brought by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylvia, and his party.

In the lead judgment delivered by Garba Lawal, the court held that the appeal by Mr Sylvia and APC was not only lacking merit but also amounted to a gross abuse of court process.

The unanimous decision of the court’s panel upheld the earlier decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Court of Appeal in Abuja had, on 18 July, affirmed the re-election victory of Governor Diri of Bayelsa State in the 11 November 2023 governorship poll.

The three-member panel of Justices led by James Abundaga, held in its unanimous judgement that the appeal filed by the appellants; Mr Sylva and the APC lacked merit.

It also held that the tribunal was not in error when it struck out several paragraphs of the petitioner’s reply against the governor’s election.

NAN reports that the election tribunal had, on 27 May, dismissed the petition filed by Mr Sylva and APC.

The three-member tribunal, led by Adekunle Adeleye-led, dismissed the petition for lacking in merit.

In a unanimous decision, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to adduce credible evidence to substantiate their allegations against the outcome of the state’s governorship poll.

It struck out all the additional proof of evidence and statements on oath of some of the witnesses who testified for the petitioners as incompetent.

According to the tribunal, the law expressly provided that an election petition must be filed no later than 21 days after the election result was declared.

(NAN)