The Supreme Court has reserved ruling in the case brought before it by a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, for April 20, 2012 in the suit seeking to determine who is the rightful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state’s gubernatorial election.
Sylva had approached the court for the determination of who the candidate of the PDP should be after the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, announced guidelines that effectively barred him from the election.
Three days after the Supreme Court ruled that five former state governors, inlcuding Sylva, could not continue in office again as their tenure had expired, Jega announced that those who can stand for the fresh gubernatorial election in four out of the five states must be candidates who emerged after the April 15, 2011 Court of Appeal judgement that granted the former governors temure elongation.
Sylva had emerged the candidate of the PDP in Bayelsa State in the primaries conducted in January 2011.
However, after that, the PDP in the state held fresh primaries for the gubernatorial election in which Henry Seriake emerged as the candidate.
Sylva is contesting the legality of the pronouncement of Jega on the matter.
The gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State comes up on February 11, which is this Saturday.