The Independent National Electoral Commission has rejected the demand of the All Progressives Congress for a fresh gubernatorial election in Bayelsa.
In an interview with PUNCH, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, dismissed APC’s demand for a fresh governorship poll in Bayelsa State, saying the commission’s had concluded its work on the Bayelsa State governorship poll on Friday.
The commission vowed not to compromise its longstanding principle because it had never granted such a request and that of the APC would not be the first.
One of the officials said, “The APC is asking for what is not possible. The party should forget a fresh governorship election in Bayelsa State.”
The APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, had written to the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, demanding for a fresh election in Bayelsa State.
The APC national chairman said the swearing-in of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Douye Diri, as the state governor was unconstitutional as he did not meet the required constitutional requirements.
The party said although the Supreme Court annuled its candidate, David Lyon’s victory, it stated that Diri also failed to meet the mandatory requirements to become governor.
The APC had said, ‘‘We are aware that Section 179(1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria mandatorily requires a candidate for an election to the office of governor of a state to have not less than one quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two thirds of all the local government areas in the state before the candidate can be deemed to have been duly elected as the governor of the state. This mandatory requirement was affirmed by the Supreme Court in the judgment under reference.”
According to the party, Bayelsa State has eight local government areas, hence the two thirds of at least eight local government areas will be approximately six local government areas.
The Supreme Court had on Thursday nullified the candidacy of Lyon and his running mate, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, on the grounds that Degi-Eremienyo presented false information about his educational qualifications in his Form CF001 submitted to INEC as a candidate for the 2019 election.
Justice Ejembi Ekwo, who read the lead judgment, had said Degi-Eremienyo’s disqualification on the basis of submitting false information to INEC had infected the joint ticket with which he and Lyon contested the election and emerged victorious.