Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa
An oil contractor, Mr. David Lyon, yesterday emerged the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State after the Governor Mai-Mala Buni-led electoral committee announced the results in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Lyon, who hails from Southern Ijaw, the second largest population of voters in the state, had earlier been endorsed by Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum and leader of the party in Bayelsa, Chief Timipre Sylva.
He officially joined the race a day before the expiration of purchase of nomination forms after Sylva stepped down following his appointment as minister.
Lyon scored 42,138 votes to defeat his distant rival, Mrs. Diseye Nsirim, who scored 1,533 votes, while Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, erstwhile Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, surprisingly scored 571 votes.
Preye Aganaba also scored 354 votes; Mr. Amgbare polled 633 votes while Prof. Maureen Etebu polled 564 votes.
Chief Collation Officer, Senator Dangana Emmanuel, who announced the results in Yenagoa, said the mode adopted was direct primary as agreed by Bayelsa State’s stakeholders, and confirmed by the National Working Committee.
Earlier in the day while voting in his riverine Okpoama community in Brass, Sylva vowed that the candidate of the party will emerge governor in a couple of months.
“I am happy at last we have had a very peaceful and orderly primary in this ward. I just wanted to be here. What I wanted to be sure of was that everybody conducted themselves very well, especially after all the events of the previous days; the court order and the vacating of the court order and things like that.
“But I am happy that our members are still in high spirit and the primaries have gone on very well in this ward. I am sure APC is going to win. I mean we are definitely going to take over Bayelsa State now. There is no time better than now for us to take over Bayelsa State,” he explained.
