The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal by Timi Alaibe against the election of Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri.
Alaibe was challenging the emergence of Senator Diri as the lawful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
Also, the Supreme Court in February, nullified the election victory of Bayelsa Governor-elect, David Lyon, and that of his Deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo.
Lyon was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election. His victory also meant the first time a candidate of the APC would be winning a governorship election in Bayelsa.
Lyon’s election victory was nullified because his running mate, Degi-Eremienyo, presented a forged certificate to the electoral commission.
The decision followed actions by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) explained to pave the way for the swearing-in of the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Douye Diri, as governor of Bayelsa State after Supreme Court judgment that sacked the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, David Lyon, who won the November governorship election.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, had told journalists in Abuja that Mr Diri has met all the constitutional requirements to become the governor-elect of Bayelsa, with the removal of Mr Lyon and his votes from the election result as ordered by the court.
“Without the votes scored by the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose candidates were deemed not to have participated in the election, the total number of lawful votes cast in the election now stand at 146,999.
“Out of this figure, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored the highest number of lawful votes with 143,172,” Mr Yakubu said.
“Similarly, the Party (PDP) has scored more than 25 % of the lawful votes cast in all the eight (8) Local Government Areas of the State,” he added.
