Bayelsa Guber Poll: APC elders reject judgement disqualifying Sylva

<p>The Bayelsa State Elders Forum has rejected the judgement of the Federal High Court disqualifying the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Timipre Sylva, ahead of the November 11 election in the state.</p>, <p>The elders in a statement signed in Yenagoa by its Chairman, Chief Michael Adomokeme, posited that the presiding judge erred in point of law in his pronouncement, which was based on the claims that Sylva had taken the oaths of office as a Governor twice and was no longer qualified to vie for the governorship ticket of his party.</p>, <p>Adomekeme said, “In as much as we respect the court as the bastion of hope in our democracy, we are constrained to point out that our governorship candidate had only taken one oath of office known to the law as the first one referred to by the judge had been nullified by a court of competent jurisdiction.</p>, <p>“Yes, we recall that in 2007, Sylva’s first term election was annulled by the court, which also nullified the oath he took to be sworn in as the governor. The election, having been declared null and void, ultra vires and of no effect, was conducted again in 2008, which he also won.</p>, <p>“The annulment of the first poll and nullification of that oath by the court had rendered both the election and the oath of office non-existent. The first oath never existed because in the eyes of the law, you cannot build something on nothing. Only the oath taken in 2008 is recognized by the law and stands as the only oath so far taken by our candidate”.</p>, <p>Adomekeme insisted that judges remained imperfect humans capable of making mistakes in their pronouncements, adding that such recognition is the reason why the hierarchy of courts exists in the judicial system.</p>, <p>He said: “We believe that the court of appeal will do justice to this matter. Already, we commend the legal team of our party for swiftly appealing the judgement and applying for a stay of execution of the verdict, which we believe is a miscarriage of justice.</p>, <p>“We believe that