Slyva Excluded from Governorship Race as INEC Releases Final Candidate List for November Elections

Slyva Excluded from Governorship Race as INEC Releases Final Candidate List for November Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the amended lists of candidates for the upcoming November 11 governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states. Notably absent from these lists were the names of Timipre Sylva and his running mate, Joshua Maciver, representing the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The amended candidate list, which was promptly uploaded to the commission’s website, bore the signature of the INEC Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony. The column designated for the APC candidate and his running mate remained conspicuously blank, with a terse “court order” notation beside it.

For the Imo governorship election, INEC included the names of Uchechukwu Ishiodu as the governorship candidate and Ahumbe Chiazor as the running mate, representing the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).

In the amended document, Oriaran-Anthony clarified that the commission’s actions were in strict compliance with court orders related to the candidate lists that were served on INEC. She recalled that the final list of candidates for the 2023 Bayelsa State Governorship Election was initially published on June 9, in accordance with the Electoral Act of 2022 and the election timetable.

However, after the publication, the commission received a court order concerning the APC’s nomination for the Bayelsa governorship election. Under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), INEC is obligated to enforce court orders pertaining to the nomination of candidates by political parties in the state. Therefore, the amended list of candidates for the 2023 Bayelsa State governorship election was adjusted as a result of these court orders.

In a similar fashion, the final list of candidates for the Imo State governorship election was published on June 9, but INEC was served with a court order requesting the inclusion of the PRP and its candidate in the list. Again, INEC adhered to the provisions of the Constitution by amending the list accordingly.

The disqualification of Timipre Sylva from participating in the Bayelsa state governorship election was decreed by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on October 10. Justice Donatus Okorowo’s ruling stipulated that Sylva, having already served two terms as governor of Bayelsa, would violate the 1999 constitution as amended if allowed to contest again. The judgment also contended that Sylva was ineligible to run in the November election due to the potential breach of the term limits.

Additionally, the Federal High Court in Owerri ordered INEC to include the name of the PRP governorship candidate in the list of nominated candidates, further affecting the candidate lineup that had been published on the INEC website.

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