Appeal Court uphold Governor Duoye Diri’s election as Bayelsa state governor

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Appeal Court uphold Governor Duoye Diri’s election as Bayelsa state governor

A five-man panel of the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has overturned a ruling by the Bayelsa state election tribunal which nullified the election of Douye Diri as governor of Bayelsa State.

The three-member panel of the tribunal had on August 17, ruled that the November 16, 2019 election that saw Diri emerge as governor of the state was unlawful due to the exclusion of Action Nigeria Democratic Party (ADP) and its candidate, King George from the election. Read here.

In a unanimous judgment delivered this morning, the five-man panel of the Appellate court ruled that the tribunal acted outside its jurisdiction by nullifying the election of Governor Diri. The court also ruled that 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.