Bayelsa: APC writes INEC, demands fresh governorship election

Bayelsa: APC writes INEC, demands fresh governorship election

- The APC has asked INEC to conduct a fresh governorship election in Bayelsa state

- According to APC, PDP's Diri did not meet the requirement to be declared the governor of the state

- The Supreme Court had sacked Bayelsa APC's governor-elect and ordered INEC to declare the party with the next highest votes and required geographic spread as the winner

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has insisted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s candidate in the Bayelsa governorship election, Douye Diri, did not have the constitutional requirements to be declared the state's governor.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Diri the governor of Bayelsa after the Supreme Court's verdict which sacked APC's David Lyon.

In an appeal letter sent to INEC, the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, said his party affirmed the supremacy of the apex court's judgement but insisted Diri did not meet the requirement the court stated, Premium Times reports.

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Bayelsa: APC writes INEC, demands fresh governorship election
APC wants INEC to conduct fresh governorship election in Bayelsa state. Credit: VON
Source: UGC

Oshiomhole said PDP's Diri did not meet the requirement to be declared as the governor.

According to the APC chairman, the two-thirds of at least eight local government areas in Bayelsa will be approximated to six local government areas.

Oshiomhole, however, said the PDP and its candidate only won in only five local government areas.

In the light of the development, the APC asked the electoral body to conduct a fresh governorship election in the state.

The APC's call for a fresh poll has drawn heated reactions from Nigerians. Read some of the reactions below:

Aki Godluv Stan commented on Facebook: "APC should cover their face in shame, for not being intelligent enough to verify authentic and forged documents while screening their candidates. I will advice them to fire their national chairman because he is a disaster."

Isaiah Emmanuel said: "Pls what did APC screening committee do when they screen candidates? Can someone show us their screening template. Incompetence everywhere. How on earth did they not vet the forms and supporting documents. Osho and his team is a disaster, a monumental failure. Oyegun is by mile more erudite and competent. Even a primary school cert holder will do better. They should bury their faces in SHAME!"

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Nnamdi Nwachukwu also stated: "I don’t understand oshiomole and APC mathematics, 2/3 of 8 is 5.3333. How did they arrive at 6? 5.3333 to the nearest whole number is 5, this is elementary maths. Why are they trying to confuse some Nigerians cos not all Nigerians can fall for their voodoo maths. Pdp met the 2/3 in 5 local Govts and so are duly qualified."

"It will appear the APC is unaware that it's the party in power; and that the judiciary is part and parcel of the same government," Sule Musa reacted.

Onuoha Chigozie Penzy said: "It's a shame that APC couldn't conduct screening of their candidates properly. Let them blame whosoever that conducted the audio screening."

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Earlier, the APC described as illegal INEC’s declaration of Diri as Bayelsa governor. Oshiomhole accused INEC of illegally declaring Diri as the governor.

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The party’s chairman said by declaring Diri as the Bayelsa governor-elect, the electoral commission appropriated judicial powers to itself over the Supreme Court ruling that sacked Lyon.

Oshiomhole said the APC will reclaim its mandate by seeking legal redress in court.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the shocking defeat suffered by Lyon just hours before his swearing-in as governor of Bayelsa state had been linked to alleged roles played by Oshiomhole and Timipre Sylva, minister of petroleum.

A chieftain of the party in the state, Perekeme Kpodoh, named the two important figures in the ruling political organisation as responsible for the sudden plight that befell the party.

Kpodoh, who has played active roles in the sustenance of the APC in Bayelsa state, said the party should hold the two high profile members responsible and possibly sanction them for the way they handled the selection of those who stood for the election.

The chieftain said with the latest development, Lyon had been thrown into huge debts, which he would be made to pay alone.

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Bayelsa: INEC presents PDP’s Douye Diri certificate of return | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng

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