Federal High Court Disqualifies Timipre Sylva

By Iyojo Ameh

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that Chief Timipre Sylva, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is disqualified from contesting the upcoming November 11 off-cycle election in Bayelsa State.

Justice Donatus Okorowo delivered the landmark judgment on Monday night, asserting that Sylva’s candidacy would breach the 1999 constitution as amended.

This ruling was based on Sylva’s prior two terms as governor, amounting to a total of five years in office.

The judge clarified that allowing Sylva to contest again would result in him spending more than eight years as governor of the state, in contravention of the constitution.

He cited the case of Marwa vs. Nyako at the Supreme Court, highlighting that the framers of the constitution explicitly stated that no individual should be eligible for the governorship position more than two times.

Justice Okorowo underlined that both parties in the suit acknowledged that Sylva had already been elected into office twice. He emphasized the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Marwa vs. Nyako, which asserted that the constitution and its scope could not be expanded to permit unlimited contestation.