In a decisive ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the re-election of Senator Duoye Diri as Governor of Bayelsa State, rejecting the appeal filed by Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding the November 11, 2023 off-cycle election.
On Friday, a five-member panel led by Justice Lawal Garba confirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision from July 15, which deemed Sylva’s appeal an abuse of court process due to his filing of two notices of appeal.
Referring to the 1999 Constitution, the Apex Court clarified that the APC gubernatorial candidate was entitled to only one appeal and criticized the multiple appeals filed. Consequently, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Sylva’s appeal, citing its lack of merit. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had previously declared Governor Duoye Diri of the PDP as the winner with 175,196 votes, surpassing Timipre Sylva, who received 110,108 votes.
