JUST IN: Supreme Court Affirms Lyon As Bayelsa Governor-elect, Strikes Out Lokpobiri’s Appeal

The Supreme Court has affirmed the nomination of Mr. David Lyon as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and upheld his victory as Governor-elect of Bayelsa State.

This came as the Apex Court dismissed an appeal by former Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri.

The court held that Lokpobiri’s appeal lacks merit and accordingly dismissed it. Lokpobiri had asked the apex court to declare him the candidate of the party and governor-elect.

The five-man panel in a unanimous decision on Tuesday upheld the decision of the court of the appeal which ruled that Lokpobiri’s appeal against the outcome of the September 4, 2019 primary of the APC was filed out of the time allowed by law.

In a judgment read by Inyang Okoro, the five-member panel held that section 285 subsection 9 of the 1999 constitution as amended does not admit any elongation of time when it comes to pre-election matters.

The court said ”Any party seeking redress must file within the 14 days period.”