By Brave Dickson
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, Ajasin Vincent says the disqualified PDP candidate, Timipre Sylva for the November 11 poll in Bayelsa State is a greedy politician.
The chieftain said Sylva is also noncontented and wondered why he decided to run again for governor and not allow David Lyon to recontest.
Vincent maintained that Lyon would do better at the ballot than Sylva, saying that Lyon won the last governorship election with a big margin but was disqualified by the court because of his running mate.
His words: “Sylva is greedy and noncontented. In the last election in Bayelsa, APC won with a very big margin when David Lyon contested against incumbent governor Douye Diri.
“Against all odds, Lyon defeated the ruling PDP in the state but was disqualified by the court because of his running mate.
“We expected Sylva to give Lyon the opportunity to contest again but Sylva left his ministerial position to contest the forthcoming governorship election in Bayelsa.”
The chieftain’s reactions came in the wake of a recent ruling by a trial court that disqualified Sylva’s candidacy, adding that he is not constitutionally eligible to contest for Bayelsa guber poll.
Justice Donatus Okorowo of a Federal High Court in Abuja delivered the judgment in suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023 and filed on June 13, 2023, by a member of the APC, Deme Kolomo.
The court ruled that Sylva, having been sworn in twice and governed for five years as governor of Bayelsa, would breach the 1999 constitution as amended if allowed to contest again.
The judge also declared that Sylva was not qualified to run in the November poll because if he wins and he is sworn in, he would spend more than eight years in office as governor of the state.
Citing the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, Okorowo noted that the drafters of the country’s constitution stated that nobody should be voted for as governor more than twice and that the parties to the suit agreed that Sylva was voted into office two times.
He further stated that the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope. So, if Sylva is allowed to contest the next election, it means a person can contest as many times as he wishes.
