In a significant legal development, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has delivered a decisive ruling in the Bayelsa State governorship election case, dismissing an interlocutory appeal brought by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva.
The court, led by Justice H.A Barka, upheld the dismissal of the appeal and imposed a fine of N400,000 on Sylva for what it described as a time-wasting appeal.
The three-member panel unanimously ruled against Sylva and the APC, ordering them to pay the cumulative cost to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Douye Diri, and his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, who were respondents in the matter.
Sylva and the APC had sought the court’s intervention to compel the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to recuse itself from the petition filed to challenge the election of Governor Diri.
However, they withdrew their appeal during Tuesday’s proceedings, indicating that they were no longer interested in pursuing the matter.
In response to the withdrawal, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and imposed the fine, noting that the respondents had already filed processes and engaged in legal proceedings related to the appeal.
The ruling comes amidst ongoing legal battles following the Bayelsa governorship election, in which Governor Diri of the PDP emerged victorious.
Sylva, a former governor of the state, alleged irregularities and sought to nullify the election results, claiming that certain Local Government Areas’ results were wrongly excluded by INEC.
Despite the conclusion of hearings on the petition, the tribunal has yet to deliver its judgment. The legal saga underscores the complexities and controversies surrounding electoral disputes in Nigeria, as parties engage in legal battles to contest election outcomes and seek redress through the judicial system.