Bayelsa Guber Poll: Sylva Speaks On Appeal Court Judgment

Former minister of state for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva has hailed the Court of Appeal judgment that reinstated him as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11 Bayelsa poll.

A Federal High Court in Abuja had on October 9, nullified Sylva’s candidature having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of the state.

Justice Donatus Okorowo had held that Sylva was not qualified to run in the forthcoming poll because if he wins and is sworn in, he would spend more than eight years in office as governor of the state in breach of the 1999 constitution.

But, the appeal court in a unanimous judgment on Tuesday, held that the trial court which nullified Sylva’s candidature lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

The three-member panel held that the plaintiff, Demesuoyefa Kolomo, does not have the right to institute the case as he was not an aspirant in the primaries that produced Sylva as the A.P.C governorship candidate.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hours after the judgment, Sylva, described the judgement as a big relief to him.

“I just feel relieved because it was confusing when that judgment came, but I feel very relieved today,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday.

He added that “today, I think the judiciary has vindicated itself”.

At the risk of the party missing out on the 2023 governorship poll, Sylva argued that what played out in 2020 was almost about to be repeated if not for Tuesday’s verdict.

“That was actually becoming very disturbing. It was becoming something we saw as a pattern but this has rested that,” he said on the show.

He also accused the PDP of being jittery ahead of the exercise.

“The PDP is afraid of this election very clearly,” Sylva added. “They have not done so well and they know. From even the campaigns, everybody can see very clearly. If you go to Bayelsa, it is almost clear to everyone that the election has been won by APC,” the APC candidate added.