The Supreme Court has upheld the victory of Bayelsa governor-elect, David Lyon and dismissed the appeal filed by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri for lacking in merit.
The apex court in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Inyang Okoro, held that the lower court was right in its decision as Senator Lokpobiri filed his petition outside d 14 days allowed by law.
A 5-man panel of the court insists that the cause of action complained about by Senator Lokpobiri occurred on the 4th of September 2019 and not 7th as claimed in his petition which was clearly filed out of time.
Lokpobiri approached the Supreme Court claiming that he is the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bayelsa governorship primaries which held on September 4, 2019.
He claimed that the party wrongly gave the ticket to Lyon who eventually contested and won the governorship election.
Lokpobiri who is a former Minister of State for Agriculture had approached the court, asking it to declare him, and not Lyon the authentic candidate of the APC.
He told the court that the governorship primary conducted by the APC in Bayelsa State was not done in compliance with the guidelines and the constitution of the party, and therefore, concluded that the party had no candidate.
However, the Court of Appeal, in Port Harcourt, upturned the High Court’s decision last month, declaring that the APC had a candidate in the governorship election.
