The Supreme Court of Nigeria has affirmed the election victory of Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri.
The verdict was delivered by the apex court on August 23, 2024.
Recall that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had dismissed the case filed by a former minister, state for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, against Douye Diri’s election as governor of Bayelsa State.
The appeal commenced as a petition at the tribunal after the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of the candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Duoye Diri, as the winner of the Bayelsa governorship election.
Diri, who is also the incumbent governor of the state, was said to have polled a total vote of 175,196, clinching the governorship position against the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Timipre Sylva.
Diri polled a total of 175,196 votes while Sylva trailed behind with 110,108 votes, making the margin a total of 65,088.
But Sylva approached the tribunal citing issues bordering on electoral malpractice and non-compliance to the electoral act.
But a three-man penal of the tribunal led by Adekunle Adeleye dismissed his petition for being contradictory, incompetent and lacking in merit.
The tribunal also held that the petitioner failed to file the statement on oath of its witnesses alongside his petition, in line with relevant laws.
Parties then approached the appeal court for redress.
At the appeal court, Diri’s legal team urged the panel to hold that the tribunal was right to have dismissed the petitioner’s petition for fielding incompetent witnesses.
They contended that the appellants failed to show proof of electoral malpractice at 184 polling units in Nembe, Ogbia and Southern Ijaw Local Government Areas.
But the appellant’s legal team urged the appeal court to rely on the testimonies of the APC candidate’s credible evidence and set aside the judgement of the tribunal.
The appellant held that elections were held in the disputed polling unit but the respondents said no election was held.
The appeal court held that the tribunal was not in error when it struck several paragraphs of the petitioner’s reply against the governor’s election.
Parties approached the apex Court for redress with the same arguments at the lower court.
In a verdict by the apex court chaired by Justice Garba Lawal, it upheld the reasonings of the appeal court.
The apex court held that the APC candidate violated rules of the court by filing two notices of appeal in the same matter.
The apex court subsequently dismissed the case for “lacking in merit”.
By this judgement, Diri’s election stands confirmed.
