A Federal High Court, Abuja disqualified the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, from contesting the Nov. 11 election in Bayelsa.
Justice Donatus Okorowo, in a judgment delivered Monday night, held that Sylva, having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of the state, would breach the 1999 Constitution (as amended) if allowed to contest again.
Justice Okorowo, who agreed with the plaintiff’s argument, further held that if Sylva was allowed to contest and won the poll, he would have spent more than eight years in office as governor of the state in contravention with the constitution.
While citing the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, Okorowo maintained that the drafters of the country’s constitution stated that nobody should be voted for as governor for more than two times.
According to the judge, the Supreme Court has also ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope. He held that if Sylva was allowed to contest the next election, it meant a person could contest as many times as he wanted.
