INEC Removes Sylva From Bayelsa State Candidate List 

The updated lists of candidates for the governorship elections in Imo and Bayelsa states have been made public by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The names of Timipre Sylva and Joshua Maciver, the running mate for the All Progressives Congress, were left off of the modified list that was posted on the commission’s website on Tuesday. This was in reference to the Bayelsa State election.

Rose Oriaran-Anthony, the Secretary to the Commission, signed the list.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, “court order” words were written in the space designated for the names of the APC candidate and his ruining partner.

The commission also listed the names of Ahumbe Chiazor, the Peoples Redemption Party’s running mate, and Uchechukwu Ishiodu, their candidate for governor of Imo State.

In the revised document, Oriaran-Anthony clarified that the commission’s actions were carried out in compliance with court orders on the lists that were supplied to it.

She recalled that, in compliance with Section 32 of the Electoral Act of 2022, as well as the timeline and calendar of events for the election, the commission released the final list of candidates for the 2023 Bayelsa State Governorship Election on June 9.

She claimed that the commission received a court order regarding the APC candidate’s candidature for the Bayelsa State governorship following the publication.

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) in Section 287 requires the commission to uphold the court’s rulings regarding the nomination of candidates by state political parties.

In accordance with the court orders imposed on the commission, the modified list of candidates for the 2023 Bayelsa State governorship election is now amended, according to Oriaran-Anthony.