Mr Ahmed Raji, SAN, the lawyer to the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission demanding the immediate withdrawal of the amended list of candidates released for the poll.

Raji, in the letter dated October 25, 2023, said that he had the firm instruction of Sylva to respectfully demand the immediate withdrawal of the amended list.

He described the commission’s decision as prejudicial, as the judgment on which it was based had already been appealed against at the Court of Appeal.

Raji argued that the Electoral Act and the Constitution expect INEC to wait for the outcome of the appeal before taking any step that may be prejudicial to any of the parties, particularly Sylva.

“Dear sir, you will recall that the judgment in issue, that arose from the above suit was delivered on the 9th of October,2023 and our client, being an ardent and firm believer in the efficacy of the judiciary and the rule of law, immediately filed an appeal within 24 hours of the judgment, on the 10th October, 2023.

“In addition to the notice of appeal, our client expeditiously compiled the record of appeal and transmitted same in less than 10 days.

“The appeal was successfully entered on the 18th October 2023, with Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CS/1060/2023.

“The above being the case, the commission, as a respected arbiter and law-abiding institution, is expected to respectfully wait for the outcome of the appeal, before taking any step that may be prejudicial to any of the parties, particularly, our client.

“This is in view of the fact that the parties that went to court are not candidates in the forthcoming election, unlike our client. In other words, they do not have anything to lose, rather, they are fighting proxy battles to deny our client and his party the opportunity to participate in the forthcoming election.

“We know that the Commission has always been consistent in a matter like this, to wait until the entire appellate process and proceedings are completed, one way or the other,” the letter read.

Raji urged INEC to reconsider its decision and withdraw the amended list of candidates in the interest of justice and fair play.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has scheduled a hearing for Friday in the appeal filed by Slyva.

Sylva and APC are praying the Court of Appeal to set aside the October 9 judgment by Justice Okorowo voiding Sylva’s candidacy.