Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday nullified the August 17, 2020 verdict of the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal which upturned the election of Governor Duoye Diri and ordered fresh conduct of a fresh poll within 90 days.
Justice Adezila Mshelia, leading a five-man panel of the Court of Appeal, set aside the tribunal’s verdict and affirmed Diri’s election in its judgment.
A three-man election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja had, in a split decision of two-to-one, nullified the November 16, 2019 Bayelsa State governorship election as a result of the exclusion of the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party and its candidate, King George, from the poll.
But dissatisfied with the judgment, Diri, his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the Independent National Electoral Commission had filed separate appeals against it.
The appellate court, however, upheld the appeals on Friday as it held that ANDP was not unlawfully excluded from the election.