Supreme court affirms Duoye Diri as Bayelsa governor

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court has affirmed the re-election of Senator Duoye Diri as the Governor of Bayelsa State after dismissing the appeal of Timipre Sylva, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the November 11, 2023 off-cycle election.

In a judgment delivered today August 23, the panel headed by Justice Lawal Garba, affirmed the Court of Appeal decision of July 15 which ruled that Sylva’s appeal was an abuse of Court process for filing two notices of appeal.

Citing a section of the 1999 Constitution, the Apex Court panel held that the APC Governorship candidate has only one right to appeal the judgment of the Tribunal and not multiple appeals. The Court therefore faulted the APC Governorship candidate who filed two notices of appeal to the Appellate Court.

In a unanimous judgment the appeal dismissed by the Supreme Court for lacking merit.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that governor Duoye Diri of the PDP garnered a total of 175,196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Timipre Sylva of the APC who polled 110,108 votes.