The All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Council said it was unfazed by the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja that disqualified its candidate and former governor of the state, Timipre Sylva, from contesting the November 11 election, assuring its supporters of victory and his subsequent swearing in on February 14, next year. 
   
The council, in a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Perry Tukuwei, noted that the party had briefed its lawyers to appeal the judgment, expressing confidence that the Court of Appeal would overturn the verdict of the lower court. 
   
Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday,  ruled that Sylva, having been sworn in twice and governed for five years as governor, would be in breach of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) if allowed to contest again; hence, disqualified him from contesting the governorship election. Justice Okorowo argued that a win and swearing in would make him spend more than the eight years or two terms as stipulated.
Citing Marwa vs Nyako case at the Supreme Court, Okorowo noted that drafters of the Constitution had stated that nobody should be elected governor more than two times, and that parties to the suit agreed that Sylva had been voted into office twice in the past.   
      
He further stated that the Supreme Court had ruled in the Marwa vs Nyako case that nobody can expand the Constitution or its scope. Hence, if Sylva is allowed to contest the election, it would mean that a person can contest as many times as he or she wishes.
   
But alleging that the court action was the “clandestine strategy by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the council said the judgment should not deter the people’s resolve to elect Sylva as the next governor of the state. 

MEANWHILE, the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has said that what the state needs is an honest and sincere leader, who would be focused on development, and not a man widely known for deception.
     
Diri, who took swipes at his APC opponent in the November 11 governorship election in the state, Sylva, during the PDP campaign rallies in Ogbia Local Council, described him as a serial deceiver that does not deserve the votes of the Bayelsa people.

The PDP campaign trail visited Yiba-Ama (Oruma), Otuasega, Emeyal, Kolo Town and Elebele communities on Monday. The governor noted that as governor for five years and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources for almost four years, Sylva did not make any meaningful impact in the state, but rather deceived the people with phantom projects.