The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by a former aspirant of
the Bayelsa governorship election under the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), Timi Alaibe, challenging the candidacy of Duoye Diri in the
November 2019 election.
Alaibe who had earlier lost a similar suit at the Federal High Court and
the Court of Appeal is claiming that he is the authentic candidate of
the PDP.
But the court dismissed the case on Tuesday, on the ground that it was a
pre-election matter.
Governor Duoye Diri was sworn in on February 14, a day after the Supreme
Court sacked the former governor-elect of Bayelsa State, David Lyon, and
his Deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo.
A five-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili,
thereafter, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC), to withdraw the Certificate of Return that had been issued to
the candidate of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the
November 16, 2019 governorship election.
The court then ordered INEC to issue a fresh Certificate-of-Return to
the candidate of the party with the next highest votes and with the
required constitutional spread of votes in the results of the election,
which was the PDP.
Diri was then sworn-in along with his Deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.