The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the victory of Governor Douye Diri and Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo in the November 11, 2023, governorship election in Bayelsa State.
A three-member panel led by James Abundaga in its judgment dismissed the appeal by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, for lacking in merit.
The panel held that the tribunal was not in error when it struck out several paragraphs of the petitioner’s reply against the governor’s election.
The judge said it was an abuse of court process for a party to file several processes against the same judgement.
The judge added that the appellants failed to show that they tendered the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines before the tribunal as evidence to prove the allegations of electoral malpractice.
The court also awarded a cost of N500,000 each in favor of each of the respondents in the appeal by Sylva and his party.
