The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, has been disqualified from contesting the November 11 election because he has been sworn in as governor twice.
The Federal High Court, Abuja, has disqualified Sylva in its judgement in the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023 was filed on June 13, 2023, by Deme Kolomo, a member of the APC.
Presiding judge, Justice Donatus Okorowo, ruled that Sylva, having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of the state, would breach the 1999 constitution as amended if allowed to contest again.
The judge also declared that 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.
Citing the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, Okorowo noted that the drafters of the country’s constitution stated that nobody should be voted for as governor more than two times and that the parties to the suit agreed that Sylva was voted into office two times.
He further stated that the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope, stressing that if Sylva was allowed to contest the next election, a person could compete as many times as he wanted.