The Supreme Court has affirmed Douye Diri as the duly elected governor of Bayelsa state, while dismissing appeals against his election.
A seven-man panel of the apex court in a judgment on Wednesday, November 18, also dismissed the appeals filed against the Bayelsa deputy governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo. According to Channels TV, the suit against the governor was filed by the Accord Party (AP).
Diri’s Supreme Court victory means the PDP will continue to govern Bayelsa state. Photo: @govdouyediri Source: Twitter The appeals challenging the eligibility of the deputy's election were filed by the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP), and the Labour Movement (LM).
The court in a unanimous judgment ruled that the appeals against the governor and his deputy were dismissed following their withdrawal by lawyers of the appellants.
The governorship candidate was later declared the elected governor of the state after the Supreme Court judgment disqualified the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) David Lyon who earlier emerged the winner of the poll.
Diri’s victory has been challenged a number of times at the Bayelsa state governorship election petition tribunal, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court.
In another news, leaders of the South-South geopolitical zone have demanded a public apology from the federal government over the botched stakeholders meeting in Port Harcourt, the River state capital on Tuesday, November 17.
The presidential delegation which convened the meeting had cancelled it while stakeholders comprising traditional rulers, religious leaders, opinion leaders, youths, and women from the zone were already seated at the venue of the meeting.
Chairman of the south-south governors forum and Delta state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, informed the stakeholders that the presidency gave an emergency security meeting called by President Muhammadu Buhari as a reason for the cancellation.