The All Progressives Congress (APC) has ended the 20-year-old political control of Bayelsa State by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In the governorship election held in the state on Saturday, November 16, APC candidate, Mr. David Lyon defeated Mr. Douye Diri of the PDP by winning in six of the eight local government areas of the state.
Diri won in two local governments.
Announcing the results at the office of the Independent national Electoral Commission Yenagoa in the early hours on Monday, the chief returning officer, Prof. Faraday Orumwense, announced that Lyon polled 352,552 votes to defeat Diri, who polled 143,172 votes.
“I, Prof. Faraday Orumwense, hereby certify that I am the Returning Officer for the Bayelsa State governorship election held on 16th day of November 2019.
“That the candidates recorded the following votes… Lyon David of the APC got 352,552 votes…while the PDP candidate, Diri Douye got 143,172 votes.
“That Lyon David, having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby returned elected,” he said.
The APC candidate won in Brass, Nembe, Ogbia, Southern Ijaw, Ekeremor and Yenagoa while the PDP won in Sagbama and Kolokuma/Opokuma local government areas.
In the Sagbama, the APC polled 7, 831 votes while the PDP scored 60,339 votes.
The result from Nembe showed that the APC garnered 83,041 votes while the PDP polled 874 votes.
In the Kolouma/Opokuma, the APC scored 8,934 votes while the PDP scored 15,360 votes.
In Brass the APC got 23,831 votes while the PDP polled 10,410 votes.
The APC scored 24,607 votes in Yenagoa, while the PDP got 19,184 votes.
In Ogbia, the APC polled 58, 016 votes while the PDP got 13,763 votes.
In Southern Ijaw, Lyon polled 124,803 votes while Diri got 4,898 votes.
Lyon also defeated Diri in Ekeremor by polling 21,489 to the PDP’s candidate’s 18,344 votes.
PDP Accuses Security Agents of Aiding Ballot Box Snatchers, Others
Reacting to the outcome of the election, the in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan accused the APC-led federal government of trampling on democracy with utmost impunity that can only be obtainable in Hitler’s Germany and Samuel Doe’s Liberia, where the lives and rights of citizens meant nothing to suppressive power mongers.
It accused security forces of aiding armed hoodlums to invade polling centres, to shoot and kill innocent citizens, cart away ballot boxes, stuff them with already thumb printed ballot papers in favour of APC.
“It is distressing that under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration, votes no longer count; power and governance no longer derive from the people but from violence, manipulations and the barrel of the gun,” said Ologbondiyan.
