Just 24 hours before his inauguration as governor of Bayelsa
state, the supreme court nullified the election of David Lyon, candidate of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) who was declared winner of the governorship
election in the state in November 2019.
Lyon was expected to take over the leadership of the state
from Seriake Dickson, the incumbent, whose tenure expires on Friday, and he was
already rehearsing for the inauguration before the verdict came.
The apex court asked INEC to issue certificates of return to
candidates of the party with the next highest number of lawful votes and with
the required constitutional geographical spread in the election.
The panel of justices was led by Mary Odili, and its
decision affirmed the judgment of a federal high court disqualifying
Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, Lyon’s running mate, for submitting forged
credentials to INEC.
The supreme court held that the action of Degi-Eremienyo
affects Lyon because both men ran on a joint ticket.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Douye Diri, its
governorship candidate, had filed a suit against Lyon, Degi-Eremienyo and INEC,
seeking the disqualification of the APC deputy governorship candidate.
The court of appeal had, however, upturned the decision of
the trial court and affirmed the candidature of Lyon and Degi-Eremienyo, but
Diri proceeded to the apex court, which sacked the APC candidates.
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