Bayelsa governorship: Why we dismissed Lokpobiri’s petition — Appeal Court

The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Saturday ruled that Senator Heineken Lokpobiri’s petition challenging the All Progressives Congress governorship primaries in Bayelsa State was filed out of  time.
Reading the judgment, Justice Isaiah Olafemi said Lokpobiri failed to comply with the statutory 14 days period, adding that he ought to have filed the case not later than September 17, 2019.
Olafemi held: “The matter was filed on September 18, outside the 14 days statutory period.
“The petition was not filed within time.”
It will be recalled that Lokpobiri, a former Minister of State for Agriculture, had approached a Federal High Court challenging the emergence of Chief David Lyon as the governorship candidate of the APC in Bayelsa State.
He had prayed the court to declare him the candidate of the APC, saying he and not Lyon won the party’s governorship primaries in the state.
The lower court had ruled outside the prayers, declaring that APC had no candidate for the election.
The Appeal Court, however, held that although Lokpobiri had the right to contest the outcome of the party’s governorship primaries, he only did so outside the stipulated time.
The court further held that the parties were right to challenge the lower court’s decision which said the APC had no candidate for the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
It consequently set aside the judgment of the lower court, describing it as having erred in law.