Lyon, APC accept Supreme Court decision on judgement review
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accepted to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court having upheld its earlier judgement that disqualified David Lyon as governor-elect and ordered the immediate swearing-in of Senator Douye Diri after the APC appeal for a review was rejected.
This was disclosed in a press statement issued Thursday by the governorship candidate, David Lyon while noting that he is aware of the extent to which the Supreme Court decision has further dashed the hopes of Bayelsans as it upturned the democratic mandate of the Bayelsa electorate.
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Chief Lyon stated in the statement that he has resolved to continue to join forces with well-meaning individuals, institutions and organisations towards bringing the much-needed development to Bayelsa state, which is in dire need of development.
He said that “I hereby unequivocally, state my decision to accept the Supreme Court verdict. However, distressing as it is, it is the decision of the Supreme Court and we are all bound to accept the outcome as law -abiding citizens of this great country.
“I wish to appeal to my party’s faithful, my supporters, all Bayelsans and all lovers of peace and justice to accept this verdict and maintain the peace.
“While they have a right to think that this is a case of judgment without justice, I strongly appeal against all forms of violence or any conduct that threatens the peace and development of our state.
“I strongly believe that God still loves Bayelsans and will still allow His will to come to pass in their lives. I seize this opportunity to thank the leadership of our party, the All Progressives Congress at the national, state, local government and ward levels for the tenacity and upholding the ideals of constitutional democracy.
“I appeal to all Bayelsans not to shy away from participating in the governance of our dear state for the common good and well-being of its people.
“In the same vein, I urge the good people of the state to continue to uphold the dreams of our founding fathers in our aspiration to lead the state irrespective of party affiliations.”
In a related development, the state APC Chairman, Jothan Amos in a media briefing expressed appreciation to Bayelsans for voting APC in the November 16 election, noting that the fact that APC polled 340, 000 votes is a clear demonstration that Bayelsans actually yearned for and desired change.
He said that “you may recall that on February 13, the Supreme Court disqualified the APC-ticket and ordered for immediate swearing-in of Senator Douye Diri and Senator Lawrence Ewrudjakpo as governor and deputy governor respectively.
“The news led to pockets of violence across the state which Chief David Lyon had condemned earlier. The party not satisfied with the decision made an appeal to the same apex court for review.
“On February 26, the Supreme Court expressed its audacity of finality by upholding her earlier judgement. Therefore, let me use this opportunity to thank all party faithful and Bayelsans for their support, prayers, encouragement and sacrifice in the course of the campaigns through to the election and even to this present moment.
“Let me also encourage all party faithful and Bayelsans in general to accept the decision of the Supreme Court in good faith and ensue peace and love.
“As a party, we must unite to uphold peace to leverage on the love extended to us by Bayelsans as clearly demonstrated on November 16, 2019.”
