Human rights lawyer, Ebun-olu Adegboruwa, SAN, has advised the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, to, without delay, swear in the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Diri Duoye, after the Supreme Court nullified the electoral victory of the All Progressives Party (APC) governor-elect, David Lyon, in a unanimous judgement, on Thursday.
Adegboruwa, in a release on Friday, said, “By the terms of the Supreme Court judgment, the two candidates sponsored for the Bayelsa Governorship election became disqualified.
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By implication, Adegboruwa said, “The total lawful votes for the Bayelsa Governorship Election prior to the Surpeme Court judgment was 499,551, out of which APC had 353,552, which has now been voided by the Supreme Court.
Hence, he said this left total lawful votes cast to be 145,999, from which INEC is to calculate the 25% spread, and since PDP had 143,172, he said it clearly meets 25% of the lawful votes of 145,999.
Consequently, Adegboruwa said, by virtue of section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “should immediately issue certificate of return to the PDP candidate, without further ado.”
He also admonished the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State to proceed and swear in the PDP candidate immediately.
His statement reads: “By the terms of the Supreme Court judgment of 13/2/2020, the two candidates sponsored for the Bayelsa Governorship election became disqualified.
“The Surpeme Court treated them as if they were never candidates in the election, they should not have been part of the election ab initio.
“The disqualification of the APC candidates by the court automatically voids whatever result APC polled in the election. This, all the votes cast for the APC candidate automatically become voided by reason of the Supreme Court decision and cannot be added to total valid votes.
“The total lawful votes for the Bayelsa Governorship Election prior to the Surpeme Court judgment was 499,551, out of which APC had 353,552, which has now been voided by the Supreme Court, leaving total lawful votes cast to be 145,999, from which INEC is to calculate the 25% spread. PDP has 143,172, which clearly meets 25% of the lawful votes of 145,999.
“INEC is not to calculate 25% of voided votes which in the eye of the law are null and do not exist.
“By virtue of section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution, INEC should immediately issue certificate of return to the PDP candidate, without further ado.
“The Chief Judge of Bayelsa State should proceed to swear in the PDP candidate immediately.
“Anyone dissatisfied with the decision of the Surpeme court should follow due process of law.”