Ahead of the Bayelsa State governorship in November 2023, stakeholders under the auspices of Progressives Minds of Bayelsa have cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) leadership to take steps to prevent the party from running into litigations that may affect its chances of fielding a candidate for the election.
The party leaders said, “It is less than 30 days to the primaries and some persons who bought nomination forms for the contest are still holding political appointments contrary to the provisions of the new Electoral Act.”
In a statement signed yesterday by the group’s national coordinator, Chief Raymond Ayebapreye and made available to journalists in Abuja, he particularly drew the party’s attention to the Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act (as amended) that stipulates “That no political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of nomination of candidate for any election.
“Section 84(13) reads: “Where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of this Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate for the election shall not be included in the election for the particular position in issue.”
This position came on the heels of allegation that the minister of state for petroleum resources, Timipre Sylva, has been cleared by the APC screening committee to contest in the election
Consequently, the group warned that allowing the minister, who has remained in office to this moment will be counterproductive for the party as other political parties mindful of the provisions of the law will definitely make a case that may jeopardize the chance of the APC in the election.
The group urged the party not to forget in a hurry the outcome of similar situations in the state in the last elections where the party won the governorship election at the polls but lost out in court over pre-election litigations.
“Recall that David Lyon won the governorship on the platform of the APC but was sacked by the Supreme Court. Although the circumstances may differ but bottom-line remains that the party lost in court. What this teaches is that we must as a party pay close attention to the provisions of the electoral act and the constitution generally to avoid a repeat of the ugly situation”, the group added.
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