The All Progressives Congress (APC) thinks it’s too early for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove their candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, from the list of governorship candidates for the Bayelsa governorship election on November 11.
Mr. Felix Morka, who is the National Publicity Secretary of the party, made this statement in Abuja.
The APC has noticed that the list of candidates for the governorship election in Bayelsa on November 11th has been updated by INEC. Our candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, has been left out of the list.
This decision by INEC might be related to the High Court ruling on October 9. The ruling stated that Chief Timipre Sylva cannot be the candidate for our party.
Our candidate and party quickly appealed the judgment and initiated other legal procedures to try to prevent the judgment from being carried out.
“The Court of Appeal understood that the matter was very urgent, so they decided to speed up the process. The hearing is now scheduled for Friday, October 27,” Morka explained.
He also mentioned that INEC was involved in the case and had received all the necessary documents and instructions related to the case.
He said that removing APC’s candidate from the list, like INEC did, was too early and could affect the result of the appeal.
He said that if the party’s candidate is removed from the list of people running for governorship in Bayelsa, it would create a situation where the appellate court, the candidate, and the party would feel helpless if the appeal is successful.
Morka asked INEC to take back its amendment mentioned earlier for the sake of fairness.
He asked the people of Bayelsa, especially the many members and supporters of the APC, to stay calm while the legal process takes its time.
He said he was sure that the party’s candidate would win both in the Court of Appeal and in the election.
Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court in Abuja made a decision on October 9th that disqualified Sylva from participating in the governorship election on November 11th.
Okorowo decided that Sylva, who had been sworn in twice and served as governor of Bayelsa for five years, would violate the 1999 constitution if allowed to run for office again.
