Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has filed an appeal against the judgement which nullified his election as governor of the state.
His lawyers filed the Notice of Appeal against the majority judgement of the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Tribunal on Tuesday at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
Diri is challenging the judgement on 12 grounds.
Recall that the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Tribunal had on Monday, in a majority judgement read by Justices Yunusa Musa and Sikiru Owodunni, nullified Diri’s election and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections within 90 days.
The Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are listed as first, second, and third respondents in the appeal.
Gov. Diri disagreed with the entire majority decision of the Tribunal arguing that the petition by the ANDP challenged its alleged unlawful exclusion from the election that was conducted on November 16, 2019.
He held that the cause of action of the first respondent crystallised on November 16, 2019, the Election Day when it claimed to have realised that INEC indeed did not place it on the ballot.
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“From the date, the 1st Respondent had 21 days within which to file a petition against the alleged unlawful exclusion from the election.
“There was no election on the 14th day of February 2020 held by INEC to warrant the 1st Respondent’s petition filed on 26th February 2020, more than five months after the declaration of results, as the ground of complaint of unlawful exclusion is a complaint against an election, not a declaration,” he said.
According to him, the case of ANDP is not hinged on the nullification of the votes of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, David Lyon, nor on the declaration of results by INEC on February 14, nor on his return as the governor of Bayelsa State.
Rather, he said that it was hinged on the party’s alleged unlawful exclusion from the election, stressing that the first respondent’s petition was statute-barred and in breach of the provisions of Section 285(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
The governor, therefore, prayed the appellate court to set aside the entire majority decision of the Tribunal, and also dismiss the petition by the first respondent.
He also asked the court to uphold the minority judgement of the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Muhammad Sirajo.
