On Friday, August 23rd, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Lawal Garba, reaffirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal from July 15th, which deemed the appeal by Timipre Sylva as an abuse of court process. The court found that Sylva, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, had improperly filed two separate notices of appeal.
The Supreme Court panel referenced a specific provision of the 1999 Constitution, stating that a governorship candidate is entitled to only one appeal against the judgment of the election tribunal. The panel criticized Sylva’s action of filing multiple appeals, which they ruled as a violation of legal procedures.
In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court dismissed Sylva’s appeal for lacking merit, further solidifying the previous rulings against him.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had earlier declared Governor Duoye Diri of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election, securing 175,196 votes compared to Sylva’s 110,108 votes. This ruling by the Supreme Court puts to rest any lingering legal disputes surrounding the governorship election.
