“We’re going to step up the campaign,” Ganduje boasts
• A former governor appeals and asks the court to enforce the sentence.
“Our state does not deserve to be a serial deceiver,” Diri said.
Deji Elumoye, Adedayo Akinwale, Alex Enumah in Abuja and Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa
The All Progressives Congress (APC) said that former Petroleum Resources Minister Timipre Sylva, who was dismissed on Monday afternoon by the Federal High Court in Abuja for not being worthy to stand for re-election, remains its gubernatorial candidate in the November elections. 11, election for governor in the state of Bayelsa.
Corroborating this, APC national chairman Abdullahi Ganduje said that the party’s leadership would not be swayed by the court’s ruling but would intensify the campaign ahead of the November elections.
Sylva, on the other hand, applied to the Abuja Court of Appeal for an order quashing her dismissal, asking the court to uphold the execution of the sentence.
However, Bayelsa State Governor Senator Douye Diri said the state needs a fair and sincere leader who will focus on its progress and not a guy widely known for his deception.
However, the APC’s national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, said in a statement that the explanation had become imperative following the court ruling that disqualified Sylva.
He said: “In the context of a ruling by the Federal High Court in Abuja that disqualified the candidate for Governor of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, we wish to categorically state that Chief Sylva is and remains the candidate for the post of Governor of Bayelsa State of our country. Big party in the November 11, 2023 gubernatorial election.
“Our and his candidate have duly instructed the legal team to appeal the decision of the Federal High Court, with speed and expeditiousness. “
The ruling party urged its members, supporters and citizens of the state to remain calm and wait for the final results of the appeal, stating that it was confident of victory.
“With nothing to offer the Bayelsa electorate, as a result of its lackluster functioning as a ruling party, the nervous PDP of Bayelsa State has since resorted to mercenary activities, backroom deals, and antics to distract and confuse the other intelligent. of the state,” Morka added.
He reiterated that the start of the party’s crusade for the governorship will take place on Saturday, October 14, 2023, in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, and invited all interested parties, militants, sympathizers and the general public to register. for the winning crusade.
Alluding to the party’s willingness to appeal the court’s ruling, Ganduje, who spoke after a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu at Government House, Abuja, described the ruling as unfortunate and democracy in action.
He said the CPA would go to the Court of Appeal to overturn the ruling in the lawsuit filed by “a guy in the party who does have prestige. “
His words: “Well, this sentence is unfortunate, but you can simply say that it’s democracy in action. But we learned that the user who took the case to court isn’t even qualified because he didn’t argue with Sylva.
“Therefore, he is even qualified to take the case to court. However, we are going to appeal. We are waiting for the sentence and then we call for calm on this issue.
The former governor of Kano state was pressured to abandon the party’s quest for the governorship of Bayelsa State, despite the diversion caused by the court decision.
According to him, “Last two weeks I spent two smart days in Bayelsa and I think they were in a position and still are in a position to win the elections.
“So it’s a little distraction anyway, but we’re going to get through it. We believe that the Court of Appeal will give us a positive ruling, but this will not save us from preparing for the next elections, which will take place on November 11, 2023. “
But Sylva, through her lawyer, Dr. Ahmed Raji, SAN, has requested that the execution of the sentence of Judge Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which prevented him from participating in the gubernatorial vote scheduled for next month, be suspended.
Senior Suger argued that the trial court’s ruling went against established legal principles and notable precedents, adding that the chances of good luck before the Court of Appeals were very high.
Speaking shortly after the motion was filed, Raji revealed that the appeal raised three basic issues related to jurisdiction, locus standi, and the erroneous evaluation of the affidavit evidence.
In the opinion appeal, dated October 10, 2023, the appellant requested the Court to order the maintenance of the execution and/or continuation of the execution of the entirety of the judgment and orders contained in the judgment of the Court, rendered on October 9, 2023, pending the hearing and final resolution of the appeal against the judgment and orders of that court before the Court of Appeal. Abuja Appeal.
The former minister also applied to the court for an injunction preventing the defendants and/or giving effect to the declaratory and enforceable orders contained in the judgment.
The appellant argued that Okorowo, in his view, improperly assumed his jurisdiction by taking an interest in the internal affairs of his party, the CPA, which is an unjustifiable cause of action and therefore a serious miscarriage of justice.
In addition, it held that the trial court has a duty to hear the arguments presented through the parties and correctly apply the law.
In the second plea, the former governor claimed that Judge Okorowo erred in law by wrongly conferring, authorizing, and disposing of the case when the defendant did not have the capacity to bring or bring the action after admitting that he did not participate in the proceedings. The first election that produced him as the APC’s gubernatorial candidate thus caused a serious miscarriage of justice in his opponents.
He further argued that the lower court did not adequately evaluate, rule or rule on his initial form of objection challenging the jurisdiction of the action and therefore violated his right to a fair trial guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution.
No date has been set for the filing of the appeal.
Okorowo, in a ruling issued late Monday, ruled that Sylva was not eligible to run for governor of Bayelsa on Nov. 11, on the grounds that he had been sworn in twice and had ruled for five years as governor of Bayelsa State.
The ruling ruled that allowing Sylva, who had been appointed through the APC, to run for governor would amount to a violation of the 1999 Constitution.
Meanwhile, Diri, who attacked Sylva at the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) election rallies in the local government domain of Ogbia, described him as a serial deceiver who did not deserve the votes of the other Bayelsa residents.
The PDP gubernatorial exercise visited the communities of Jiba-Ama (Oruma), Otuasega, Emeyal, Kolo Town and Elebele on Monday.
Diri noted that as governor for five years and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources for nearly four years, Sylva had no significant effect on the state, but instead deceived others with shell projects.
Listing Sylva’s “sins” against the people of the state, the governor said that as minister, no Bayelsan had been granted an oil block, but Sylva had succeeded in having the state’s Atala oilfield license revoked.
According to him, other defects of the former governor were the deception of building an airport in Zarama, the failure of the Brass fertilizer as well as the COVID-19 hospital projects.
His words: “Timipre Sylva is a guy who can’t be trusted. He replaced everyone he had promised to give the governorship and turned to a candidate.
“A guy who said a road from Yenagoa to Nembe wasn’t economically viable. A guy who proposed an airport, but the site became a “seaport” after gobbling up millions of naira in state resources. When the previous governor built a very smart airport, Sylva said it was a seaport, but today he uses the same airport.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, he deceived me as governor. He said: let’s open a COVID-19 hospital in Igrogen. In my innocence, I followed him. We did the ritual of laying the foundations and finished the project.
“A guy who said he was building the Oloibiri Petroleum Museum but after fooling the whole country with an opening ceremony, the site was deserted and now it’s overgrown.
“A guy who has serially deceived the people of Bayelsa. That’s why everyone who speaks says it’s a war between gentleness and darkness. There is darkness upon them.
“We tried, we tried it, and it failed. We have had many governors in this state, but one has been stoned, and that is Timipre Sylva. The Bayelsans rejected it and will continue to be rejected.
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