…Dismisses Sylvia, APC ‘s appeal.
The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday, August 2024, upheld the election of Senator Douye Diri as the validly elected governor of Bayelsa state.
In its judgment, the apex court dismissed the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Timipre Sylvia and his party.
In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Garba Lawal, the Supreme Court held that the appeal by Sylvia and APC was not only lacking merit but was a gross abuse of court process.
The apex Court in a unanimous decision by five Justices, upheld the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Bayelsa State Election Petition Tribunal.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja had on July 18, 2024, affirmed the decision of the Bayelsa Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which also upheld the November 11, 2023, re-election of Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State.
A three-member panel of the Appeal Court had in the judgment dismissed an appeal brought it by Timipre Sylva and APC seeking to set aside the decision of the Tribunal.
The Justice Adekunle Adeleye-led three-member tribunal had on May 27, also dismissed the petition filed against Governor Diri’s re-election by the APC and its candidate for lacking in merit.
The tribunal had held that both Sylva and APC failed to adduce any credible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations they raised against the outcome of the governorship poll.
