The All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) Chief Timipre Sylva is no longer eligible to run for governor in Bayelsa State on November 11 following an order from the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Justice Donatus Okorowo announced the decision on Monday.
Okorowo concluded that allowing Sylva to run again would violate the 1999 constitution as amended because she had already been sworn in twice and served as the state’s governor for five years.
Sylva would have served as the state’s governor for more than eight years if he won and was sworn in, according to the judge, who ruled that he was ineligible to run in the upcoming election in November.
Okorowo asserted that the drafters of the country’s constitution stated that no one should be elected governor more than twice and that the parties to the lawsuit agreed that Sylva was elected to office twice while citing the Marwa vs. Nyako case at the Supreme Court.
The judge claims that the Supreme Court ruled in the Marwa v. Nyako case that no one can broaden the constitutional protections or their application.
It was argued that if Sylva could run for office again, then anyone could run for office as often as they desired.
