Appeal court upturns Bayelsa Election Petition Tribunal verdict

Etim Ekpimah

A five-man panel of the Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling which nullified the election of Douye Diri as governor of Bayelsa State on Friday.

According to the Court of Appeal, the decision of the Bayelsa Election Petition Tribunal was ultra vires by nullifying the election of Diri’s election.

The panel unanimously stated in its judgement that the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party failed to show that it had a valid candidature that was unlawfully excluded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court, however, 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 November 16, 2019 Governorship election in Bayelsa State.

The Bayelsa State Gubernatorial Petition Tribunal in August nullified Diri’s election.

The election was nullified based on a petition filed by the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party, which argued that it was unlawfully excluded from participating in the election.

Delivering judgment on Monday, August 17, the panel, led by Justice Yunusa Musa, ruled that the election was unlawful due to the exclusion of ANDP and its candidate.

Justice Musa also ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in Bayelsa within 90 days.