The Court of Appeal in Abuja has cleared the way for former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, to participate in the upcoming governorship election in Bayelsa State. The appellate court dismissed the final set of suits seeking the exclusion of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate.
In the judgment delivered against an appeal brought by one Hon Isikima Ogbomade Johnson, the Court held that the suit was unjustifiable and brought in bad faith. The appellant had alleged that Sylva, the APC candidate, took the oath of governorship office twice and that the primary election that produced him was illegal.
The Court agreed with the arguments presented by Chief James Ogwu Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), stating that the allegations against Sylva regarding taking the oath of office twice could not stand in the face of the law. The court noted that competent courts had invalidated the first oath.
The unanimous judgment also dismissed the allegations against APC that its primary election on April 14, 2023, which produced Sylva as the flagbearer, was conducted in contravention of the law. The Court upheld the evidence provided by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and APC, stating that all legal steps were taken in the conduct of the primary election.
The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which had earlier dismissed the suit for lack of merit. This legal victory clears the path for Timipre Sylva’s participation in the Bayelsa governorship election scheduled for Saturday.
