Guess what? The Court of Appeal in Abuja has just said that Timipre Sylva can still run for governor in Bayelsa State! This is a big deal because there are only 12 days left until the election.
So, there was this judge named Justice Donatus Okorowo who said that Sylva couldn’t be a candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election. But the Court of Appeal said that Justice Okorowo was wrong. They said that the person who took the case to court didn’t even have the right to do that because they didn’t participate in the primary election that chose Sylva as the APC candidate.
Jurisdiction is a fancy word that means the court has the power to hear a case. The Court of Appeal said that Justice Okorowo didn’t have the power to hear this case in the first place. So, everything he decided doesn’t count.
It means that Sylva can be a candidate for the APC again! The Court of Appeal said that the decision to kick him out of the election was wrong. Now, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has to put Sylva’s name back on the list of candidates for the governorship election.
Oh, and one more thing. The judge who gave the lead judgment, Justice Binta Zubairu, said that Sylva should get N1 million as compensation. That’s a lot of money!
