THE Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, October 30, reversed the disqualification of Timipre Sylva as the valid candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Bayelsa State governorship election slated for November 11.
The Court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, restored Sylva as a candidate in the forthcoming poll.
It held that the claimant, Demesuoyefa Kolomo, who instituted the suit that led to Sylva’s disqualification, lacked the locus standi to do so.
Consequently, the appellate Court, aside from setting aside the verdict of the High Court, awarded a cost of N1 million against the Respondent, Kolomo.
The ICIR reported that a Federal High Court in Abuja disqualified Sylva from participating in the election.
In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023, Kolomo, a member of the APC in the state, asked the court to determine Sylva’s eligibility for the election, given his past terms as the state governor from May 29, 2007, to April 15, 2008, and from May 27, 2008, to January 27, 2012.
But, in his affidavit, Sylva said he was elected once as the state’s governor. While citing an April 2008 court of appeal ruling that nullified the 2007 election, the former minister also emphasised his constitutional and legal right to contest the most-coveted seat in the state for a second and final term.
However, delivering judgment on Monday, October 9, the presiding judge, Donatus Okorowo, held that Sylva, having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor, would breach the 1999 Constitution if allowed to contest again.
Okorowo also said Sylva, who served as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources in the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, would spend more than eight years in office if allowed to participate in the election and eventually win.
Referring to the Supreme Court case of Marwa vs Nyako, Okorowo highlighted that the drafters of the nation’s Constitution explicitly stipulated that a person should not be elected governor more than twice.
He further mentioned that all parties involved in the case acknowledged that Sylva had been elected into office twice.
Okorowo stated that the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody could expand the Constitution or its scope. So, if Sylva could contest the next election, any citizen could contest for a political office as many times as they wish.
The Court directed INEC to remove his name from the list of candidates for the election.
INEC, on Wednesday, October 25, complied with the directive and removed Sylva’s name from the election candidates’ list.
INEC also removed the name of Sylva’s ruining mate, Joshua Maciver, from the list.
This was observed in the amended list of candidates released by the Commission.
The amended list was signed by the Secretary of INEC, Rose Oriaran-Anthony,
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Sylva challenged the High Court decision in a three-ground notice of appeal he filed through his legal team under the direction of Ahmed Raji, SAN, claiming it went against well-established legal precedents and recognised norms.
He claimed that Okorowo of the High Court had improperly taken jurisdiction by looking into a matter that fell under the purview of a political party’s internal affairs.
He maintained that the question of a political party’s nomination of a candidate is not a matter that may be brought before a court.
He informed the appellate court that Kolomo, the complainant in the lawsuit, had acknowledged not taking part in the primary election that resulted in his nomination as governor.
The ICIR reports that INEC will conduct off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States on November 11, 2023.
The ICIR had, in a report, presented the top candidates for the election in the three states and their chances.
Over 5m PVCs collected in Bayelsa, Kogi, Imo as states set for poll
Meanwhile, INEC has said 5.2 million (5,169,692) permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) have been collected in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi, ahead of the November 11 governorship elections in the states.
A statement by the Commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun in Abuja, on Monday, October 30, stated that the uncollected number of PVCs in the three states was 239,746.
The statistics for the three states revealed that in Bayelsa, out of 1.1 million (1,056,862) registered voters, 1,017,613 had obtained their PVCs, while 39,249 remain uncollected.
In Imo State, there were 2.4 million (2,419,922) registered voters, with 2,318,919 having received their PVCs, while 101,003 PVCs remained uncollected.
According to the statement, out of 1,932,654 registered voters in Kogi state, 1,833,160 have collected their PVCs, leaving 99,494 with the commission.
Olumekun also noted that the commission met on Monday, October 30, to review the preparations for the elections in the three states.
“As was done in recent elections, including the 2023 general election, the commission is publishing the comprehensive information of collected and uncollected permanent voters’ cards in the three states on a polling unit basis.
“The information also gives the distribution of the polling units by Local Government Areas, registration areas/wards, the names of the polling units, their code numbers, the number of registered voters and the number of collected as well as uncollected PVCs,” he added.
Olumekun said the list provided the names and locations of the two polling units in Bayelsa and 38 in Imo without registered voters.
He added that the detailed information on the PVCs had been uploaded to the commission’s website.
On October 16, The ICIR reported how the Commission raised the alarm over rising fake news and misinformation ahead of the election.
According to INEC, fake news might severely affect how the country manages its elections if not stopped early.
