BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms Lyon as Bayelsa APC candidate

Uche EmmanuelFebruary 11, 2020

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The Supreme Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, February 11, has affirmed the Bayelsa State governor-elect, David Lyon, as the valid candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the last governorship election in the state.

Senator Heineken Lokpobiri appeal filed against the Bayelsa State governor-elect, David Lyon.

Lokpobiri is contending that he is the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election held on September 4 for the 2019 Bayelsa Governorship election.

He claims that the party wrongly gave the ticket to Lyon who eventually contested and won the governorship election.

Lokpobiri, who is a former Minister of State for Agriculture had approached the court, asking it to declare him, and not Lyon the authentic candidate of the APC.

He told the court that the governorship primary conducted by the APC in Bayelsa State was not done in compliance with the guidelines and the constitution of the party, and therefore, concluded that the party had no candidate.

Recall that, the Court of Appeal, in Port Harcourt, upturned the High Court’s decision last month, declaring that the APC had a candidate in the governorship election.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court siiting in Abuja affirmed the appeal court’s decision, declared governor-elect, David Lyon, as the valid candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the last governorship election in the state.

A five-man panel of the court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili unanimously dismissed the appeal filed by Heineken Lokpobiri, who had instituted his case seeking to be declared the valid winner of September 4, 2019, primary election of the All Progressives Congress.

Delivering the lead judgement of the apex court, Justice Inyang Okoro affirmed the January 11, 2020 judgement of the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal, which had held that Lokpobiri’s suit challenging Lyon’s victory in the primary election was filed out of time at the Federal High Court, Yenogoa.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Court of Appeal’s judgement laying to rest the dispute about the APC’s nominated candidate for the governorship poll.

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