Appeal Court affirms election Diri as Bayelsa Governor

By our reporter| A five-man panel of the court of appeal on Friday upheld the election of Douye Diri as governor of Bayelsa State.

The court in unanimous ruling held that the Bayelsa Election Petition Tribunal acted outside its jurisdiction by nullifying the election of Governor Diri.

According to the panel, the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party failed woefully to show that it had a valid candidate that was unlawfully excluded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court berated the tribunal for ignoring the fact that the petition of ANDP was status barred in addition to the fact that the party presented an unqualified candidate to INEC in the November 16, 2019 Governorship election in Bayelsa State.

Governor Diri had approached the appeal court after the majority judgment of the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Tribunal nullified his election on 12 grounds, following a petition by the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP).

In its petition, the ANDP claimed that the party was unlawfully excluded from the election. The party insisted that its initial Deputy Governorship Candidate, David Esinkuma was duly substituted by the party within the allowed time frame, following the notification from INEC that he’s under-age.

Justice Yunusa Musa, who delivered the lead judgment in the petition against Governor Diri said INEC has no power to disqualify any candidate and insists that the petition of the ANDP stands, noting that only a court has the power to disqualify any candidate for election.