Diri affirmed Bayelsa governor, floors Sylva at Supreme Court

Diri affirmed Bayelsa governor, floors Sylva at Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday declared Senator Duoye Diri was validly returned as governor of Bayelsa State after winning the November 11, 2023 off-cycle election.

This was after it dismissed the appeal of Timipre Sylva, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.

A five-member panel of the apex court headed by Justice Lawal Garba affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision of July 15 on the issue.

The apex court panel held that the APC governorship candidate had only one right to appeal the judgment of the Tribunal and not multiple appeals.

The Court therefore faulted the APC Governorship candidate who filed two notices of appeal to the appellate court.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that Senator Diri of the PDP scored a total of 175,196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Sylva of the APC who polled 110,108 votes.