Ahead of the upcoming governorship elections scheduled for next Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reinstated the names of former Petroleum Minister and All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, and his running mate, Joshua Maciver, as candidates for the governorship elections in Bayelsa state.
This announcement was made in a statement released by the Commission last night.
According to INEC, this decision was made in compliance with the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which overturned the earlier judgment of Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja. Justice Okorowo’s ruling had previously nullified Sylva’s nomination.
In a recent ruling, a three-member panel of the appellate court determined that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked the jurisdiction to hear and rule on the case filed by Demesuoyefa Kolomo. Kolomo, who described himself as a registered voter and a member of the APC, had challenged Sylva’s nomination.
However, the court concluded that Kolomo lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to challenge Sylva’s nomination as the APC candidate since he had not participated as an aspirant in the APC’s governorship primary.
With this development, a total of 16 political parties will be fielding candidates in the upcoming off-season election in the South-South state on Saturday.
. TheWitness
