- A Federal High Court in Abuja disqualified Timipre Sylva, the APC candidate for Bayelsa’s governorship election due to term limit violation
- The ruling cites Sylva’s previous two terms as governor, stating that running again would contravene the constitution’s term limits
A Federal High Court in Abuja has made the decision to disqualify Timipre Sylva, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State. The ruling, delivered by Justice Donatus Okorowo on Monday, was grounded in the assertion that allowing Sylva to contest again would contravene the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The court deemed that Sylva’s prior two terms and five-year tenure as the governor of Bayelsa would exceed the constitutional term limits if he ran again. This would subsequently disqualify him from participating in the upcoming election.
Citing the precedent of the case of Marwa vs. Nyako at the Supreme Court, Justice Okorowo highlighted that the framers of the Nigerian constitution stipulated that no individual could be elected as governor more than twice. In this instance, both parties involved in the suit acknowledged that Sylva had previously held the office of governor twice.
Justice Okorowo further noted that the Supreme Court had ruled in the case of Marwa vs. Nyako that no one could expand or alter the constitutional restrictions in place. Allowing Sylva to run again would effectively contradict this legal precedent.
He stated, “So if Sylva is allowed to contest the next election, it means a person can contest as many times as he wishes.”
The lawsuit, with the reference number FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023, was initiated on June 13, 2023, by Deme Kolomo, a member of the APC who sought a constitutional interpretation of a governor’s tenure. Section 182 (1) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999, explicitly stipulates that “No person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if (b) he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections.”
Despite the court’s decision, the APC Gubernatorial Campaign Council in Bayelsa State remains optimistic about a resounding victory in the November 11, 2023, governorship election and the subsequent swearing-in of its gubernatorial candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, on February 14, 2024.
Perry Tukuwei, the Director of Media and Publicity for the campaign council, affirmed that the individual who filed the lawsuit against Sylva’s victory in the primary was not an aspirant in the primary election, nor was he a member of the party, thereby lacking the legal standing to challenge the outcome of the primary. Tukuwei reassured the people of the state and the party’s supporters that their candidate would emerge victorious in the November election and be inaugurated as governor on February 14, 2024. He cited Sections 29 and 84 of the 2022 Electoral Act as specifying that only individuals who contested a party’s primary election have the legal standing to challenge the qualification of the party’s candidate in any election. Consequently, the lawsuit filed by Chief Demesuoyefa Kolomo, who is not a member of the All Progressives Congress and did not participate in the party’s governorship primaries, was deemed to lack legal standing in the matter.
Discussion about this post