March 29, 2024

 

The Supreme Court has dismissed a suit challenging the victory of Bayelsa state governor, Duoye Diri, filed by a Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) Mr Timi Alaibe.

Alaibe, a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) had, by his appeal marked: SC/248/2020, sought to among others, set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the declaration of Diri as the winner of the governorship primary of the PDP held held on September 3, 2019 for lacking in merit.

He had argued among others that the PP committed electoral and constitutional illegality by blatantly allowing local government chairmen, councillors and all shades of ineligible persons to vote during the PDP governorship primaries in utter violation of the party’s guidelines which do not permit elected chairmen and councillors elected within 90 days to the election, to vote during governorship primaries.

At the mention of the appeal on Tuesday, a five-man panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour noted that the appeal was without merit.

The court’s panel also identified some other defects in the appeal and concluded the appeal did not fall within the purview of a pre-election matter, but an internal affair of a political party, which it has no jurisdiction to entertain.

Realising the observations of the court, Alaibe’s lawyer, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) applied to withdraw the appeal, following which the court dismissed it. (The Nation)

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