Sylva writes to INEC and requests the immediate withdrawal of the updated candidates’ list (See the letter)

The electoral umpire produced an amended list of candidates on Wednesday, but Sylva’s name was not included.

Timipre Sylva, a prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has written to the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) requesting the immediate removal of the modified list of candidates for the Bayelsa State governorship on November 11.

The most recent Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ahmed Raji, accused INEC of bias in a letter he sent through his attorney.

The electoral umpire produced an amended list of candidates on Wednesday, but Sylva’s name was not included.

This came after the former Bayelsa governor was declared ineligible on October 9, 2023, by Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The judge ruled that allowing Sylva to run for office again would violate the 1999 constitution, as amended, because she had been sworn in twice and held the position of governor of the state for five years.

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Additionally, he decided that Sylva was ineligible to run in the November election as, should he win and take the oath of office, he would hold the position of governor of the state for a period exceeding eight years.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Sylva went to the Court of Appeal to contest the court’s verdict, using Raji as his attorney.

However, INEC published a list of candidates for the election that did not include the names of the APC candidate while the appeal is still pending.

Sylva said he respectfully demands the immediate retraction of the modified list in a letter to INEC sent through his attorney.

He stated that given that the commission had already filed an appeal against the ruling it had acted upon, it was astounding that the INEC had published such a document.

See the letter below: