By Olusegun Olanrewaju
Former Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has appealed a Federal High Court ruling disqualifying him from the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
His appeal ratified a threat/vow by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to appeal the court judgment disqualifying the former governor of Bayelsa State from contesting the gubernatorial election.
Filing his notice of appeal yesterday, Sylva faulted the judgment by Justice Donatus Okorowo and urged the court to set it aside and uphold his nomination.
He also filed an application seeking a stay of execution of the judgment pending the determination of his appeal.
Recall that the Federal High Court led by Justice Okorowo had ruled on Monday evening that Sylva is not qualified to contest the governorship election because if he wins and is sworn in, he would spend more than eight years in office as governor of the state.
READ ALSO:One chance: No place for criminals in FCT, says Wike
Sylva had already ruled for five years as governor of Bayelsa state.
Earlier, the Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) vowed to appeal the court judgment disqualifying former minister of state, Timipre Sylva, from contesting the November 11 gubernatorial election in the state.
the chapter was reacting to Monday’s disqualification of its governorship candidate in the state, Sylva, and vowing to challenge the decision, Ripples Nigeria reports that Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a judgment delivered on Monday, disqualified Sylva from contesting in the governorship election.
According to Okorowo, Sylva, having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as Governor of Bayelsa, would breach the 1999 constitution as amended if Sylva was allowed to contest again.
The Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Bayelsa Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Perry Tukuwei, in a statement yesterday in Yenagoa, said:
“The party has briefed its lawyers to appeal the judgment, and it is confident that the Court of Appeal will overturn the judgment of the Federal High Court.
“This reassurance is in reaction to a judgment which has the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate written all over it by a Federal High Court in Abuja in an already failed bid to dash the hopes of the Bayelsa people, to have their preferred candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, as the next helmsman at Creek Haven by February 14, 2024.”
Tukuwei added, “Sections 29 and 84 of the 2022 Electoral Act state that only persons who contested primaries of a political party that has the locus standi to file a pre-election matter to challenge the qualification of the party’s candidate in any election, hence the suit filed by one Chief Demesuoyefa Kolomo, who is not a member of the APC and didn’t contest our party’s governorship primaries, does not have the locus standi to sue in the matter.”
According to him, “Section 285 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution enjoins any aggrieved party to file election matter within 14 days of the occurrence of the event, but this case was filed on the 13th of June, 2023, whereas INEC published the names of the governorship candidates for Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi on May 12.”
He also noted, “Thus, the case was filed outside the constitutionally prescribed 14 days, thereby making the case statute-barred.
“It is surprising to the party and the Bayelsa people that the court ignored the fact that the plaintiff lacked the locus standi to sue and went ahead to give judgment in their favour.”
He further stated that the suit was contrary to a directive by the Supreme Court that all pre-election matters must be heard in the state where the party’s primaries were held.
“To perfect their sinister act, the case was filed in Abuja. Is Abuja Bayelsa?
“Subsequently, the Bayelsa APC can smell the coffee and sinister move by Governor Douye Diri to go through the back door, which is his usual practice, having realised that our governorship candidate is coasting home to victory already, following unrivaled acceptance across the state.
“Our dear people of Bayelsa, fear not! This clandestine strategy by the PDP should not deter the resolve to elect Sylva as the next governor of Bayelsa, we will win,” he stated.
Meanwhile, state governor, Douye Diri, has restated that he is not at loggerheads with the All Progressive Congress (APC) as a party, saying he is against the character of the party’s candidate in next month’s governorship election, Timipre Sylva.
The governor’s comments follow Monday’s Federal High Court ruling that Sylva, having been sworn in twice and served five years as governor of the state, would breach the 1999 constitution as amended if allowed to contest again.
Diri, seeking re-election as the PDP candidate, stressed his position yesterday while canvassing for votes in the Ogbia local government area.
Alleging that the APC standard bearer was a serial deceiver, the governor urged the electorate to vote for the PDP on November 11.
Over three days, Diri has toured Ogbia LGA, visiting several communities in the council, where supporters have greeted him in their numbers.
At the Otuasega and Kolo communities, the people appreciated him for keeping his developmental promises made to them.
The traditional rulers also gave the governor and the PDP campaign organisation their blessings as prominent politicians from the council urged their constituents to vote for the party.
Diri described next month’s election as a battle between light and darkness while listing instances of the APC governorship candidate allegedly deceiving him personally and the people of Bayelsa State.
