Bayelsa Governorship Poll: PDP, Dickson File Suit to Disqualify Sylva

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Seriake Dickson, are making frantic moves to stop the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Timipre Sylva, from contesting the December 5  election by instituting a legal action challenging his eligibility on the grounds that he had been elected twice and no longer would be sworn in.

Dickson and the PDP have approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking Sylva’s disqualification.

In the suit No CV/70/15 Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson & ANOR Vs Chief Timipre Sylva & ORS obtained yesterday, the plaintiff are praying the court to determine whether Sylva, the candidate of the APC for the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa State was qualified to contest as a candidate in the light of the provisions of Section 182 (1) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

It noted that Section 182 (1) (b) states that no person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a state if “he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections”.

Armed with this, PDP and its candidate, Seriake Dickson are seeking interpretation of this section of the constitution and the court to determine whether Sylva who, having already been elected and served for a cumulative period of about four years and seven months as the governor of the state was qualified to seek for re-election a third time for a fresh term of four years.

To the plaintiff, allowing Sylva to contest in the December 5 governorship election would mean that he would be serving more than the maximum period of eight years allowed by the constitution, hence his ineligibility.

The court is yet to fix a date for the hearing of the matter.

Also, the Acting State PDP Chairman, Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff, in a statement yesterday backed the move of his party and Governor Dickson.

Dokubo-Spiff said that as a democratic and law abiding entity, the PDP and its leadership took the legal decision to check what it regarded as “recourse to impunity and disregard to law and order”.