By Kamil Opeyemi
Former Minister of Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva has been disqualified as the All Progressive Congress governorship candidate for Bayelsa state.
An Abuja Federal High Court, which on Monday night delivered its ruling said having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of the state, his candidacy would breach the 1999 constitution as amended if allowed to contest again.
The judge also declared that Sylva was not qualified to run in the November poll because if he wins and is sworn in, he would spend more than eight years in office as governor of the state.
Justice Donatus Okorowo cited the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, noting that the drafters of the country’s constitution stated that nobody should be voted for as governor more than two times and that the parties to the suit agreed that Sylva was voted into office two times.
He further stated that the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope, stressing that, if Sylva was allowed to contest the next election, it meant a person could contest as many times as he wanted.