The Court of Appeal in Abuja today has upheld the election of the Bayelsa State governor, Duoye Diri.
The court set aside the August 18, 2020 verdict of the Bayelsa State Governorship Petitions Tribunal which had ordered a fresh poll to be conducted within 90 days.
The Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP), had petitioned the court over alleged unlawful exclusion of its candidate, King George from the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The tribunal had in a split decision of two-to-one, voided the November 16, 2019 Bayelsa State governorship poll.
However, a five-man panel of the Court of Appeal headed by Justice Adeliza Mshelia upturned the lower court’s verdict and validated Diri’s election.
The PDP and INEC had filed separate appeals against the Tribunal’s judgement.
The Court of Appeal held that ANDP was not unlawfully excluded from the election.