The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Governor-elect David Lyon as the authentic All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
The apex court made the declaration in its judgment in the suit filed by former Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri urging the apex court to declare him the winner of the September 4, 2019, gubernatorial primary election of APC.
The five-member panel of justices of the apex court, led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili, however, in a unanimous verdict dismissed Lokpobiri’s appeal.
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Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Inyang Okoro upheld the decision of the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal, which had on January 11, held that Lokpobiri’s suit challenging Lyon’s victory in the primary election was filed out of time allowed in law at the Federal High Court, Yenogoa.
The Justices held that the cause of action took place on September 4, 2019, when the congress of the APC was held and name of the winner announced, and not on September 7, 2019, when the Lyon’s name was submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the party.
Consequently, they dismissed the main appeal filed by Lokpobiri, praying the court to declare him the authentic governorship candidate of the APC in the Bayelsa State governorship election.
