Bayelsa: Supreme Court With the Final Say, As Apex Court Upturns APC’s Victory in Last Minute Ruling

The Supreme Court on Thursday nullified the election of Bayelsa State governor-elect, David Lyon, and his running mate, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo.

The apex court’s five-man panel led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and issue a fresh one to the candidates of the party with the next highest votes and the constitutional required two-third of votes cast in all the local government areas of the state, which are the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The judgement came less than 24 hours to the inauguration of Lyon and Devi-Eremienyo. A federal High Court in Abuja had on November 12,2019, days before the election, disqualified the running mate of the APC candidate, Eremienyo for submitting forging documents to INEC and therefore disqualified the party from participating in the election.