The court ruled that having been sworn in twice and occupying office for five years as governor of Bayelsa, Sylva would breach the 1999 Constitution as amended if allowed to contest.But the APC and its governorship candidate have vowed to appeal the judgement, and asked the court to stay execution.
The judgement
Delivering the judgement, Justice Donatus Okorowo declared that Sylva was not qualified to run in the November poll because if he wins and he is sworn in, he would spend more than eight years in office as governor of the state.
Citing the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, Okorowo noted that the drafters of the country’s constitution stated that nobody should be voted for as governor more than twice and that the parties to the suit agreed that Sylva was voted into office two times.
He further stated that “the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope. So, if Sylva is allowed to contest the next election, it means a person can contest as many times as he wishes.”The suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023 was filed on June 13, 2023 by an APC member, Deme Kolomo.
Sylva appeals
And in a swift move, the APC candidate has asked the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, to set aside the judgment. Apart from the notice of appeal, Sylva, through his lawyer, Dr Ahmed Raji, SAN, also filed a stay of execution of the judgment.
Shortly after the appeal was filed, Raji told newsmen that the high court judgment is against settled principles of law and notable precedents and that the chances of success at the Appeal Court are very high.He said the appeal raises three fundamental issues touching on jurisdiction, locus standi and wrongful evaluation of affidavit evidence. In the motion on notice, dated October 10, 2023, praying the court to stay execution of the judgment, Sylva, through his counsel, Raji, SAN, prayed the court for an order of the court staying execution and/or further execution of the entire judgment and the orders contained in the judgment of the court, delivered on the 9th October, 2023, pending the hearing and final determination of the appeal lodged against the judgment and orders of this Court before the Court of Appeal, Abuja. He also prayed the court for an injunction, restraining the respondents from implementing and/or giving effect to the Declaratory and Executory Orders contained in the Judgment.In the appeal, also dated October 10, 2023, Sylva, a former governor of the state and the immediate past minister of state for petroleum resources, raised three grounds of appeal.
According to him, “Justice Okorowo in his judgment wrongly assumed jurisdiction by delving into the internal affairs of his party, APC, which is a non-justiciable cause of action and thereby occasions a grave miscarriage of justice.” He said the trial court “has a duty to understand the case presented by the parties and apply the law correctly.” In ground two, the former governor said Justice Okorowo erred in law when he wrongly conferred, allowed and adjudicated on the matter when the respondent has no locus standi to initiate or institute the action having confessed not to have participated in the primary election that produced him as the APC governorship candidate, thereby occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice against him. He said “the court failed to properly evaluate, determine and pronounce on his notice of preliminary objection challenging the competence of the suit and thereby breached his right to fair hearing and guaranteed by the 1999 ‘institution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” No date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal.
We remain with Sylva – APC
Meanwhile, the APC Tuesday said despite the court ruling, the former minister remains its candidate I the November 11 governorship poll.The party’s national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, said this in a statement in Abuja. He said: “Against the backdrop of an Abuja Federal High Court decision that disqualified the Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, we wish to state categorically that Chief Sylva is and remains the Bayelsa State Governorship Candidate of our great Party in the November 11, 2023 Governorship election.“Our Party and its Candidate have duly instructed the legal team to appeal the said decision of the Federal High Court, diligently and expeditiously.“We urge our teeming members, supporters, and residents of Bayelsa State to remain calm and await the outcome of the appeal, and we remain confident that we shall prevail.“With nothing to offer the Bayelsa electorate, following its lacklustre performance as the ruling party, the jittery PDP in the Bayelsa state has since resorted to mercenary lawsuits, underhand dealings and antics to distract and create confusion among the good people of the state.“We wish to reconfirm that the Party’s Governorship Campaign Flag Off will be held on Saturday, 14th October, 2023 in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. All stakeholders, Party members, supporters, and the general public are cordially invited to join the winning campaign.”
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Also in another reaction, Tuesday, the director media and publicity of the APC Bayelsa gubernatorial campaign council, Perry Tukuwei, expressed confidence that the court of appeal would nullify the verdict of the trial court.“This reassurance is in reaction to a judgment 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 February 14, 2024,” he said.The campaign council also said: “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 an 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.”Tukuwei said the case is statute barred because it was filed outside the 14-day period.“To perfect their sinister act, the case was filed in Abuja. Is Abuja Bayelsa?” he said, alleging the moves were made by Governor Douye Diri, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the coming election.
