Bayelsa: Sylva rejects tribunal verdict, heads to Appeal Court

Timipre Sylva, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State and former Minister of State, Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has rejected the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Tribunal judgement which upheld the election of Douye Diri as the state governor.

Dissatisfied with the tribunal’s judgement, Sylva held a closed-door meeting with elders and stakeholders of the party to discuss the next course of action.

After the meeting, he directed his legal team to seek justice at the Court of Appeal.

“We are not satisfied with the decision of the tribunal. But this is just a court of first instance and after meeting with the elders and critical stakeholders of our great party, the APC, we directed our legal team to seek justice for Bayelsa at the Supreme Court.”

Sylva also assured the people of Bayelsa that the court of appeal would surely correct the travesty perpetrated by the tribunal.

According to him, the liberation of Bayelsa was close, adding that justice was inevitable for the traumatized people of the state.

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He appealed to them to remain positive, law-abiding, and steadfast.

Sylva had in the course of the sitting of the tribunal accused the tribunal of bias following several infractions observed by his lawyers during the hearing of the case.

Though he subsequently filed an interlocutory appeal demanding the dissolution of the panel and reconstitution of a new one, his petition was thrown out by the President of the Court of Appeal.

It will be recalled that the tribunal had earlier upheld the election that produced Diri as the state governor.

A three-man panel led by Justice Adekunle Adeleye dismissed the petition filed by Sylva, and the APC for lacking merit.

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