Sophia Michaels
Timipre Sylva
Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja has disqualified Timipre Sylva as the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State for the November 11 polls.
He gave the verdict in a judgement delivered on Monday in the suit filed on June 13, 2023, by a member of the APC, Deme Kolomo against Sylva’s candidacy.
Delivering judgement in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023, Okorowo held that allowing Sylva to contest the November 11 governorship polls would be against the constitution of the country which states that no person should be voted for as a governor more than twice.
The Judge explained that Sylva having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of Bayelsa would breach the 1999 constitution as amended if allowed to contest again.
In his view, Sylva was not qualified to run in the November poll because if he wins and is sworn in, he would spend more than eight years in office as governor of the state.
Justice Okorowo went ahead to cite the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, noting that the apex court ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope. So, if Sylva is allowed to contest the next election, it means a person can contest as many times as he wishes.
