A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has disqualified the former Petroleum Resources minister Timipre Sylva from contesting the 2023 Bayelsa gubernatorial election.
Mr. Sylva, a former governor of Bayelsa state, had secured the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket in April with 52,061 votes, surpassing five other aspirants.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had set the state governorship election for November 11th.
However, Federal High Court Judge Donaltus Okorowo in Abuja ruled on Monday that Mr. Sylva was ineligible to contest for the Bayelsa State governorship seat.
The judgment stemmed from a suit filed by an APC member, Demesuoyefa Kolomo, where the judge asserted that Mr. Sylva, who had previously served two terms as governor and ruled for five years in Bayelsa, would violate the 1999 constitution if allowed to run in the upcoming election.
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Mr. Sylva had previously served as the governor of Bayelsa State from 2007 to 2011 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before defecting to the APC and subsequently becoming a minister in former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. He resigned from his ministerial position in March to participate in the APC’s primary election.
Judge Okorowo cited a Supreme Court decision in the Marwa vs. Nyako case, explaining that the framers of Nigeria’s constitution stipulated that no individual could be elected as governor more than two times.
It is worth noting that Mr. Sylva and his party have the opportunity to appeal this decision all the way to the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, if the Supreme Court ultimately rules against Mr. Sylva after the deadline for candidate substitutions has passed, the APC faces the serious risk of not fielding a candidate for the election.
This scenario could potentially echo the party’s misfortune in the previous governorship election cycle in the state when the Supreme Court nullified the victory of its candidate, David Lyon, on the eve of his inauguration.