Nigeria: INEC briefs media on Supreme Court ruling, declares PDP’s Diri as winner of Bayelsa governorship

Nigeria's electoral body,  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),has briefed the media on the Supreme Court ruling on Bayelsa governorship election.

The commission on Friday declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Douye Diri, as the winner of the November 16 governorship election held in Bayelsa State.

The chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the commission would give him the Certificate of Return in compliance with the order of the Supreme Court, which sacked David Lyon 24 hours to his inauguration.

He said INEC would give him the CoR as soon as he comes for it.

The PDP governor-elect was being expected to receive the CoR.

The apex court on Thursday nullified the election of the candidates of the All Progressives Congress and directed the electoral umpire to issue fresh certificates of return to the party with second highest number of votes and geographical spread.

 Also on Thursday, INEC said it is yet to receive the Supreme Court enrolled order to issue the Certificate of Return (CoR) to qualified party and candidate after Thursday’s ruling by the apex court.

Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, told reporters that the commission was yet to receive the judgement that would have given it the official directive of what to do specifically. 

The commission’s Chairman and National Commissioners and other management team met till late Thursday night for regular management meetings, but which was extended for more period apparently due to the Bayelsa State judgement. 

This Morning the commission concurred with the Supreme court ruling.

In the election, The APC polled 352,552 votes while PDP got 143,170 votes.

The apex court disqualified the APC’s deputy governorship candidate, Degi-Eremienyo, and held that his disqualification had infected the joint ticket with which he and the governorship candidate, Lyon, ran for and won the November 16, 2019 election.