Boma Achenimie 
Following the disqualification of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of Bayelsa State, Timpre Sylva barely one month to the election, the state chapter of the party has revealed what next,
New Telegraph had earlier reported that Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court in Abuja barred Sylva from running in the state’s upcoming November 11 governorship election on Monday, October 9.
Recall that Sylva had been twice sworn in and had been governor of Bayelsa for five years when the high court judge determined that his participation in the election violated the 1999 constitution as amended.
Director of Media and Publicity for the APC Bayelsa Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Perry Tukuwei, read the verdict and said that the party would appeal.
Tukuwei, in a statement issued on Tuesday in Yenagoa, said, “The party has briefed its lawyers to appeal the judgement, and it is confident that the Court of Appeal will overturn the judgement of the Federal High Court.
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This reassurance is in reaction to a judgement which has the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate written all over it by a Federal High Court in Abuja in an already failed bid to dash the hopes of Bayelsa people, to have their preferred candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, as the next helmsman at Creek Haven by Feb. 14, 2024.
“Sections 29 and 84 of the 2022 Electoral Act state that only persons who contested primaries of a political party that has the locus standi to file a pre-election matter to challenge the qualification of the party’s candidate in any election hence the suit filed by one Chief Demesuoyefa Kolomo who is not a member of the APC and didn’t contest our party’s governorship primaries do not have the locus standi to sue in the matter.
“Section 285 of the 1999 Nigerian constitution enjoins any aggrieved party to file election matter within 14 days of the occurrence of the event, but this case was filed on the 13th of June 2023 whereas INEC published the names of the governorship candidates for Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi on May 12.
Thus, the case was filed outside the constitutionally prescribed 14 days, thereby making the case statute barred.
“It is surprising to the party and Bayelsa people that the court ignored the fact that the plaintiff lacked the locus standi to sue and went ahead to give judgment in their favour.”
Speaking further, the APC chieftain said the suit was contrary to a directive by the Supreme Court that all pre-election matters be heard in the state where party primaries were held.
