Supreme Court affirms Diri as Bayelsa governor

The Supreme Court has upheld the re-election of Douye Diri as the governor of Bayelsa State.

The Supreme Court, in a judgement delivered on Friday, August 23, 2024, dismissed the appeal brought before it by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylvia, and his party.

The apex court, in the lead judgement delivered by Justice Garba Lawal, held that the appeal by Sylvia and APC was not only lacking merit but a gross abuse of court process.

The unanimous decision of the apex court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and the Election Petition Tribunal.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had, on July 18, affirmed the re-election victory of Governor Diri in the November 11, 2023, governorship election in Bayelsa State.

The three-member panel of justices led by Justice James Abundaga, in a unanimous judgement, held that the appeal filed by the appellants, Sylva and the APC, lacked merit.

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

The tribunal had, on May 27, dismissed the petition filed by Sylva and the APC.

The three-member tribunal, led by Justice 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 provides that an election petition must be filed no later than 21 days after the election result is declared.

The Star