The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has re-added Timipre Sylva's name to the list of candidates running in the Bayelsa governorship election. This decision comes after a series of legal developments regarding Sylva's candidacy.
Initially, on June 9, INEC had published the final list of candidates for the Bayelsa off-cycle election, including Timipre Sylva, who represented the All Progressives Congress (APC). However, on October 10, a federal high court in Abuja disqualified Sylva on the grounds that he had served as governor of the state for two terms and would breach the 1999 constitution if allowed to contest again.
In compliance with the court's ruling, INEC removed Sylva's name from the list of candidates. But on October 31, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reversed this disqualification, stating that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case filed by Demesuoyefa Kolomo, an APC member who wasn't an aspirant in the party's primaries that produced Sylva as the governorship candidate.
Consequently, INEC, in line with the appellate court's judgment, has now included Timipre Sylva's name, along with that of his deputy, Maciver Joshua, in the list of candidates. This amendment is in accordance with Section 287 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which binds the Commission to enforce court orders on the nomination of candidates by political parties.
