David Lyon: How, Why APC Candidate Emerged Bayelsa State Gov. Elect

The political atmosphere in Bayelsa State at the moment is aroused by the emergence of David Lyon, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State as winner of the governorship election held in the state on Saturday.

Lyon defeated his closest rival, Senator Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party to win On the  in six of the state’s eight local government areas, while Diri, won in two local governments.

Some interesting things occurred during the election, and one of them is that, since the nation returned to democracy in 1999, Lyon’s victory marks the first time the PDP would lose a governorship election in the state.

The Chief Returning Officer, Prof. Faraday Orumwense, had after he released the result of the Ekeremor Local Government Area, Orumwense made good his promise as he announced that Lyon polled 352,552 votes to defeat Diri, who polled 143,172 votes some minutes after 1 am.

At the Prof. Mahmood Yakubu Media Centre in the state commission’s headquarters in Yenagoa, the state capital, Lyon was declared winner in six out of the eight local governments announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The six local government areas won by the APC are Brass; Nembe; Ogbia, Southern Ijaw, Ekeremor and Yenagoa while the PDP won in the Sagbama and Kolokuma/Opokuma local government areas.

In the Kolouma/Opokuma LGA, Bayelsa Central, the APC scored 8,934 votes while the PDP scored 15,360 votes. In the Brass LGA, Bayelsa East, the APC got 23,831 votes while the PDP polled 10,410 votes.

The APC scored 24,607 votes in Yenagoa LGA in Bayelsa Central, while the PDP got 19,184 votes.

In the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa East, the APC defeated the PDP candidate by garnering 58,016 votes while Diri polled 13,763 votes.

In Southern Ijaw Local Government, the APC candidate polled 124,803 votes while his rival got 4,898 votes.Lyon also defeated Diri in Ekeremor LGA by polling 21,489 to the PDP’s candidate’s 18,344 votes.

But while Lyon and the Bayelsa APC were already celebrating, the Kogi State APC and its governorship candidate, Governor Yahaya Bello, would have to wait till after 10am today for the final result.

This is because INEC postponed the announcement of the results of governorship elections to Monday.

The Returning Officer for the Kogi State governorship election, Prof. Ibrahim Umar, said the postponement was necessary because INEC was still expecting results from Ibaji and Lokoja LGAs while that of Dekina needed clarifications.

But before the postponement, the electoral umpire had declared results of 18 out of the 21 local government areas.

Out of the 18 LGAs results, Bello won in 10 while his closest rival, Musa Wada of the PDP, won in eight LGAs. With the results released by INEC, Bello who is the candidate of the APC in the Saturday governorship poll in the state, had polled 365,135 votes while Wada had 151,566 votes.

Bello won in the Ogori/Magongo, Ijumu, Kabba/Bunu, Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Mopa Moro, Olamaboro, Kogi, and Ajaokuta local government areas. Bello polled massive votes in his stronghold, the Okene Local Government Area of Kogi Central Senatorial District, polling 112,764 votes against Wada’s paltry 139 votes in the area. The governor also scored 64,657 votes in the Adavi Local Government Area of the Kogi Central Senatorial District against Wada’s 366 votes.

In the Ogori/Magogo LGA, Bello also won with 3,679 votes while Wada had 2,145 votes.The governor also triumphed in the Ijumu LGA of the  Kogi West. He scored 11,425 votes against Wada’s 7,587 votes. In the Omala LGA, where the recently sworn-in deputy governor of the state, Edward Onoja, comes from, the governor lost to the PDP candidate, scoring 8,473 votes while Wada scored 14,403 votes.

In the Kabba/Bunu LGA where the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, hails from, Bello won with 15,364 votes defeating Wada who polled 8,084 votes. The governor also won in the Okehi LGA, where the candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the election, Natasha Akpoti, hails from. The governor scored 36,954 votes,Wada polled 478 votes, while Akpoti scored 3,095 votes.

In Yagba East, Wada won with 7,546 votes against Bello’s 6,735. In the Yagba West, where the Secretary to the State Government, Folasade Ayoade, comes from, the PDP won with 8,860 as against Bello’s 7,868 votes. Results in the Mopa Moro LGA, where Bello’s Director-General on Media and Strategy, Kingsley Fanwo, comes from, was also close with Bello scoring 4,602 votes against Wada’s 3,581.

But in Idah, Wada polled 13,962 votes against Bello’s 4,602. In Ajaokuta, the APC scored 17,952 votes with the PDP scoring 5,565 votes. The PDP also lost in the Korto LGA. Its candidate scored 9,404 against Bello’s 14,097. But in the Olamaboro LGA, Bello garnered 16,876 votes to defeat Wada, who polled 8,155 votes.