Bayelsa APC Plans To File An Appeal After Sylva’s Disqualification

The Federal High Court’s decision to rule that Timipre Sylva, the All Progressives Congress’s candidate in the upcoming governorship election, is ineligible will be appealed, according to the APC in Bayelsa State.

After being sworn in twice and serving as the state’s governor for five years, Justice Donatus Okorowo determined on Monday that Sylva would violate the 1999 constitution’s amendments if she were permitted to run again.

But the party maintained that the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) lawsuit was in violation of the Electoral Act in a statement released on Tuesday by Perry Tukuwei, its director of media and publicity for the APC Bayelsa Governorship Campaign Council.

The Federal High Court’s decision will be overturned by the Court of challenge, the Party asserted. “The Party has briefed its lawyers to appeal the judgement,” it stated.

“Do not be alarmed, dear Bayelsans! Chief Timipre Sylva should be elected as the next governor of Bayelsa State, notwithstanding this covert PDP agenda.

Here is the whole statement:

The Bayelsa All Progressives Congress Gubernatorial Campaign Council has reassured Bayelsians that their nominee for governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, will win by a landslide on November 11, 2023, and be sworn in on February 14, 2024.

This assurance follows a Federal High Court in Abuja’s already-failed attempt to dash Bayelsans’ hopes of having their preferred candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, as the next helmsman at Creek Haven by February 14, 2024, with a judgment that has the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate written all over it.

According to Sections 29 and 84 of the 2022 Electoral Act, only individuals who participated in a political party’s primary process have the legal right to challenge the eligibility of the party’s candidate in any election. As a result, the lawsuit brought by Chief Demesuoyefa Kolomo, who is not a member of the All Progressives Congress and did not participate in our party’s governorship primary process, lacks the legal right to bring the case.

The 1999 Nigerian Constitution, Section 285, requires any party who feels wronged to file an election matter within 14 days of the event; however, this case was filed on June 13, 2023, after INEC had already announced the names of the candidates for governor of Bayelsa, IMO, and Kogi on May 12, 2023. As a result, the lawsuit was brought after the constitutionally required 14 days had passed, rendering it time-barred. The fact that the court ignored the fact that the plaintiff lacked locus standi to suit and still decided in their favor astounds the parties and Bayelsans.

In addition, the Supreme Court has established a rule requiring that all pre-election cases be heard in the state where the primary were held. The complaint was filed in Abuja so they could finish their nefarious deed. Is Abuja in Bayelsa?

After realizing that our governorship candidate Chief Timipre Sylva is already coasting to victory thanks to widespread support in the state’s eight local government areas, the Bayelsa All Progressives Congress can smell the move by Governor Douye Diri to enter through the back door, which is his custom.

The Party has instructed its attorneys to file an appeal of the decision and is sure that the Court of Appeal will reverse the Federal High Court’s decision.

Do not be alarmed, dear Bayelsans! Chief Timipre Sylva should be elected as the next governor of Bayelsa State, despite the PDP’s covert plan, which should not weaken voter determination.

We’ll prevail.