The Supreme Court has upheld the re-election of Senator Duoye Diri as Governor of Bayelsa State, dismissing the appeal brought by Timipre Sylva, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, in the November 11, 2023, off-cycle election.
On Friday, a five-member panel of the Apex Court, led by Justice Lawal Garba, confirmed the July 15 decision of the Court of Appeal, which ruled that Sylva’s appeal constituted an abuse of court process due to the filing of two separate notices of appeal.
Citing the 1999 Constitution, the Supreme Court emphasized that an APC governorship candidate has only one right to appeal a Tribunal judgment, not multiple appeals.
The Court, therefore, found fault with Sylva for submitting two notices of appeal to the Appellate Court. In a unanimous judgment, the appeal was dismissed for lacking merit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Governor Duoye Diri of the PDP as the winner of the election, with 175,196 votes, defeating his closest rival, Timipre Sylva, who received 110,108 votes.
