The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday, October 31, reversed the nullification of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the upcoming November 11, 2023 Bayelsa State governorship election, Timipre Silva.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal held that Justice Donatas Okolowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, erred in ordering the removal of Mr. Silva as the candidate of the APC in the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
According to the ruling, the plaintiffs in the Federal High Court erred in exercising jurisdiction on the grounds that they did not participate in the primaries in which Mr. Silva was the APC’s standard-bearer and therefore did not have the locus standi necessary to bring suit in the first place.
The Appeal Court emphasized that the question of jurisdiction is fundamental in election matters and that any action taken in this matter would be null and void because the lower courts had no jurisdiction in the first place. The Court of Appeals added that if a decision is found to have been rendered without jurisdiction, “no matter how sound it may have been, it is a futile action.”
The Court then set aside Judge Donatas Okolowo’s ruling that invalidated Silva’s participation in the November 11 gubernatorial election.
With this ruling, INEC must now re-register Mr. Silva as the APC candidate for the Badelsa gubernatorial election.
Judge Binta Zubair, who delivered the principal judgment, subsequently awarded Mr. Silva N1 million in compensation.
