Court Disqualifies APC Candidate Timipre Sylva from Bayelsa Governorship Election over Constitutional Breach

Patrick OdeyOctober 10, 2023

1 minute read

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has suffered a major setback in its bid to retain power in Bayelsa State as the Federal High Court in Abuja disqualified its governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, from participating in the November 11 poll.

The court ruled that Sylva, who had previously served as the governor of the state for five years, would violate the 1999 constitution as amended if he ran for a third term.

Justice Donatus Okorowo delivered the ruling on Monday, following a suit filed by a group of concerned citizens from Bayelsa State. The plaintiffs argued that Sylva was not eligible to contest the governorship election because he had already been sworn in twice as the governor of the state and had exhausted the constitutional limit of eight years in office.

The judge agreed with the plaintiffs and cited the Supreme Court judgment in Marwa vs Nyako, which held that no person can be elected as governor more than twice under the constitution. He stated that Sylva was voted into office twice, first in 2007 and then in 2008 after a rerun election. He also noted that Sylva ruled for five years until he was removed by the Supreme Court in 2012.

Okorowo maintained that the drafters of the constitution intended to prevent anyone from perpetuating himself or herself in power as governor.

He said that allowing Sylva to contest the next election would amount to expanding the scope of the constitution or rewriting it. He therefore declared that Sylva was not qualified to run for governorship in Bayelsa State and ordered him to stop his campaign.