Ebun Francis| The Supreme Court has fixed Wednesday for the hearing of a review of the application filed by the ruling All Congress Party (APC) challenging the nullification of the party’s victory in the last governorship election in Bayelsa State.
The parties to the case had been served with the notice for the scheduled Wednesday’s hearing.
A five-man panel of the apex court on February 13, disqualified Degi-Eremienyo, APC deputy governor-elect and ruled that the disqualification had rendered the joint ticket held by him and the governor-elect, David Lyon, a nullity.
But the APC, through its lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), supported by Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), on February 20, filed an application at the apex court arguing that the court gave a wrong interpretation to the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which was affirmed in the February 13, 2020, supreme court’s verdict.
According to Olanipekun, the November 12, 2019 verdict of the federal high court affirmed by the apex court did not nullify the party’s ticket.
Accordingly, he contended that the supreme court denied his client fair hearing by disqualifying its governorship candidate even when the Federal High Court in Abuja refused to grant such order even though it was sought by the plaintiffs who originated the suit.
He stated, “In this honourable court’s judgment of February 13, 2020, the court erroneously and inadvertently stated that the trial High Court consequentially disqualified the applicant‘s governorship candidate even though the trial court made no such order and when the trial court indeed refused to grant the express orders sought by the plaintiffs therein for his disqualification.”
The APC, through its counsel, equally faulted the interpretation of the Supreme Court judgment by INEC which declared the PDP the winner of the election of the election.
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