Appeal Court dismisses suits seeking to nullify Bayelsa, Kogi gov elections

Posted on Apr 17, 2020

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed the case brought by the Action Peoples Party challenging the propriety of the last governorship elections held in Bayelsa and Kogi states.

The court dismissed the case shortly before hearing the applications by interested parties, who sought to be made parties in the case.

The parties who sought to be joined include the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri; his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo; their party, the Peoples Democratic Party; the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello and his party, the All Progressives Congress.

The applicants, who sought to be made parties in the appeal by the APP are the current beneficiaries of the elections, who would have been affected by the outcome of the case.

The APP had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission before the Federal High Court, Abuja, querying the exclusion of its candidates.

In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1163/2019, the party claimed that INEC prevented it from replacing its candidates earlier disqualified by the electoral umpire.