The Court of Appeal in Abuja has declared Douye Diri as duly elected to govern Bayelsa State for the next four years.
The appellate court made the declaration in a unanimous verdict on Friday in which it set aside the judgment of the Bayelsa State Election Petition Tribunal which nullified Diri’s election as the governor of the state on the November 16, 2019 poll.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Diri, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winner, however, the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP) faulted the conduct and outcome of the election and headed for the Tribunal.
The Party had alleged that its logo was not put on the ballot box by INEC.
The three-man election petitions panel, led by Justice Mohammed Sirajo, in August, ruled that the election was unlawful due to the exclusion of the ANDP and its candidate, King George, from the governorship election in the state.
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The election petitions tribunal further ruled that a fresh election be conducted in the state by the INEC within 90 days of the delivery of the judgment.
However, a five-man panel of the appellate court held unanimously that the Bayelsa Election Petition Tribunal acted outside its jurisdiction by nullifying the election of Governor Diri.
It said the ANDP failed woefully to show that it had a valid candidate that was unlawfully excluded by the INEC.
The court berated the tribunal for ignoring the fact that the petition of ANDP was status barred, in addition to the fact that the party presented an unqualified candidate to INEC in the governorship election in Bayelsa State.
