A five-man panel of the Appeal Court has overturned a ruling which nullified the election of Douye Diri as governor of Bayelsa State.
The court, on Friday, held that the Bayelsa Election Petition Tribunal acted outside its jurisdiction by nullifying the election of Governor Diri.
In a unanimous judgment, the five-man panel of the court said the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP) failed to show that it had a valid candidate that was unlawfully excluded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
A three-man election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja had, in a split decision, had earlier nullified the November 16, 2019 Bayelsa State governorship election as a result of the unlawful exclusion of the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party and its candidate, King George, from the exercise.
The court reproached the tribunal for ignoring the fact that the petition of ANDP was status barred; the party, having not filed its petition within 14 days as stipulated by law but five months after the cause of the event.
0
0
