Boma Achenimie 
On Friday, the Supreme Court sitting in Abuja has upheld the election of Senator Douye Diri of Bayelsa State.
The apex court in a judgment delivered by the lead judge, Justice Garba Lawal dismissed the appeal brought by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylvia.
According to Justice Lawal, the appeal by Sylvia and the APC was not only lacking merit but a gross abuse of court process.
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The unanimous decision of the apex court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and the Election Petition Tribunal.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja had on July 18, 2024, in a unanimous judgment affirmed the decision of the Bayelsa Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had upheld Diri’s reelection on November 11, 2023.
A three-man panel of the appellate court had in the judgment dismissed an appeal brought before the Court by Timipre Sylva and APC seeking to set aside the decision of the Tribunal.
The Justice Adekunle Adeleye-led tribunal had on May 27, 2024 dismissed the petition filed against Governor Diri’s reelection by the APC and its candidate for lacking in merit.
The tribunal held that both Sylva and APC failed to adduce any credible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations they raised against the outcome of the governorship poll.
