The monopoly, which the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) enjoys in the oil-rich Bayelsa since 1999 has been broken by the current ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The candidate of the APC in the state’s governorship election, Mr. Chief David Lyon, has emerged the winner of the governorship election held on Saturday, November 16, 2019.
Lyon, an ally of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) early on Monday after having won in six of the eight local government areas of the state.
He defeated his rival, Senator Douye Diri of the PDP with 352,552 votes to Diri’s 143,172 votes.
The Chief Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Faraday Orumwense, said in Yenagoa, the state capital on Sunday that the local governments won by Lyon included Brass, Nembe, Ogbia, Southern Ijaw, Ekeremor and Yenagoa while Diri won in the Sagbama and Kolokuma/Opokuma local government areas.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the ruling party and its candidate for the victory.
President Buhari also commends APC supporters in particular and Nigerians in general in the State, who exercised their civic rights in a peaceful manner, notwithstanding the pockets of unrest recorded in some locations.
Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) said on Monday that Buhari condemned the loss of lives in Bayelsa, prior to the election.
‘‘Violence during elections vitiates our commitment to demonstrate to the world and upcoming generation that we are a people capable of electing leaders in a peaceful and orderly manner,’’ the Buhari said.
He noted that while officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies did their best within the ambit of the law to ensure free, fair and credible elections, it is unfortunate that pockets of unrest, mostly sponsored by desperate politicians, were recorded during the poll.
MM/GIK/APA