Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 election, has described the Supreme Court’s declaration of Douye Diri as the governor-elect of Bayelsa State as an indication that power belongs to the people.
The Supreme Court had on Thursday, February 13, 2020, sacked David Lyon and Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo as the governor-elect and deputy-governor elect of the oil-rich state respectively.
While reacting to the verdict, Atiku in a statement on his Twitter handle, expressed joy at the court’s declaration.
I received the verdict of the Supreme Court, declaring the candidate of the @OfficialPDPNig in the Bayelsa state gubernatorial elections, Senator Douye Diri, as the duly elected Governor of the state, with gladness. pic.twitter.com/nxSBR3EfSI
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) February 13, 2020
Atiku stated that the ruling is a confirmation of the people’s mandate on Diri and the PDP, adding that he is confident the incoming leader would do well.
“I received the verdict of the Supreme Court, declaring the candidate of the PDP in the Bayelsa state gubernatorial elections, Senator Douye Diri, as the duly elected Governor of the state, with gladness,” he noted.
According to him, “Senator Douye Diri had cause to visit with me before the elections and received my blessings and counsel. I am fully satisfied that he has what it takes to make Bayelsa the ‘glory of all lands’. His intellect, personality, and character, are a credit to Bayelsa and the PDP.”
He advised Douye to use the “opportunity to show Nigerians that power belongs to the people, and we must make good use of this opportunity.”
Furthermore, the former Vice President called on the people in Bayelsa to back their new leader to bringing development and prosperity to the state, as he lauded the Supreme Court for showing “consistency in its judgments.”
A five-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili earlier on Thursday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate as the winners of the November 16, 2019 governorship election in the state.
The court ordered INEC to issue a fresh certificate of return to the candidate of the party with the next highest votes and with the required constitutional spread of votes in the results of the election, which are the PDP’s.
