In a recent ruling, the Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the election victory of Governor Douye Diri, who was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in the November 2023 governorship election in Bayelsa state.
Following the petition filed by the Labour Party and its governorship candidate Udengmobofa Eradiri, challenging the verdict of the Bayelsa State governorship election tribunal, the court had reserved judgment on Tuesday.
In its judgment delivered by a three-man panel on Saturday, the appellate court upheld the tribunal’s decision to dismiss the Labour Party’s petition on the grounds of lacking merit.
The court stated that Eradiri and the Labour Party failed to provide sufficient evidence to support their allegations of non-qualification and certificate forgery against Governor Diri and his Deputy.
Furthermore, the court emphasized that the attachment of alleged forged documents to the EC8 form submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the third respondent is a pre-election matter that should not have been presented to the tribunal.
As a result, the panel ordered the appellant to pay a sum of two hundred thousand Naira as costs to each of the respondents involved in the appeal.
