DUOYE Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State says he would go to the Court of Appeal to challenge the ruling of the Election Petition Tribunal that annulled his electoral victory as the governor of the state.
Diri, who reacted shortly after the tribunal judgement on Monday stated that he has instructed his lawyers to file the necessary papers to appeal the judgement.
The tribunal had ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) wrongly excluded the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP) governorship candidate in the November 16, 2019 election in the state.
In a statement by Daniel Alabrah, his Acting Chief Press Secretary, Diri said he has implicit confidence in the judiciary that he would triumph in the end.
“We trust in the judiciary and we are appealing the judgement. With God on our side, we will get justice,” he said.
“This is a court of first instance and I have instructed our lawyers to file an appeal. We have a right of appeal even up to the Supreme Court.”
The governor, however, urged members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his supporters not to panic but to continue to remain calm and law-abiding.
'Niyi worked with The ICIR as an Investigative Reporter and Fact-checker from 2020 till September 2022. You can shoot him an email via niyioyedeji1@gmail.com. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @niyi_oyedeji.