Why Court Disqualified APC Governorship Candidate In Bayelsa, Timipre Silver
The All Progressive Congress (APC) is at the verge of not having a candidate in the Bayelsa state November 11th governorship election.
The candidate of the APC, Timipre Silver has been disqualified by a Federal High, Abuja which ruled that former governor Timipre Silver is ineligible to contest in the forthcoming Bayelsa state governorship election.
The presiding judge, Donatus Okorowo ruled that Timipre Silver contesting the November 11 Bayelsa state governorship election will amount to breaching the Nigeria’s constitution which allows two terms and for a person to be sworn only twice in as a governor of a state.
Recall that in 2007, when former president Good Luck Ebele Jonathan was nominated the vice presidential candidate of his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Timipre Silver was unanimously chosen by the Party’s stakeholders to take the place of Good Luck Ebele Jonathan who sought second tenure in office before his vice presidential nomination. Timipre Silver contested the governorship election in 2007 and in place of Good Luck Ebele Jonathan who became the vice president, and won. However, his electoral victory was upturned by court of appeal in 2008 and the then speaker of Bayelsa state House of Assembly, Werinipre Seibarugo became the acting governor pending the conduction of another election within a year.
In the rerun election, Timipre Silver won massively and was sworn in on May 27th, 2008. However, in 2012, his election was terminated by the supreme court and an acting governor took his place until another election later in 2012.
Hence, justice Donatus Okorowo ruled that Timipre Silver has been sworn in as a governor twice, in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Though his first and second tenure were truncated but he remains unfit to be sworn in as a governor of Bayelsa should he eventually win the Bayelsa state November 11th governorship election.
