- Buhari Congratulates David Lyon
- · As U.S, EU, UK, others raise concerns about Bayelsa, Kogi Elections
- · PDP Accuses Security Agents of Aiding Ballot Box Snatcher
By Abdulrahman Aliagan, Abuja
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr David Lyon has been declared winner of the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State. The election that was keenly contested between the two major parties, the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the major opposition in the state, the Federal ruling party, All Progressives Congress, APC.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, Professor Faraday Orunmuwese, who is A returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and announced this early hours on Monday morning.
Professor Orunmuwese declared Lyon as the winner after scoring the highest number of votes in the poll.
The APC candidate polled a total of 352,552 votes to defeat his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Duoye Diri, who scored 143,172 votes.
The peoples of Bayelsa had expressed their constitutional rights at the various polling units in their respective wards to cast their ballots in a bid to elect a new governor to succeed Mr Seriake Dickson who is about to complete his second term as governor of the state.
Governor Dickson who threw his total weights behind Mr Douye Diri in his bid to ensure that his party, PDP continues cutting shots in Bayelsa as well as having his anointed candidate succeeds him in office.
Dickson and Diri suffered defeat to APC candidate, Lyon with a huge margin of over 180,000 as the succession calculations were put to an end.
Like many other elections in the country, Bayelsa election was not held without pockets of violence, ballot snatching was recorded in some areas while some wards were merged together as a result of flooding.
The collation of results of the election across the eight local government areas of the state began on Sunday afternoon and lasted until the early hours of Monday.
Of the first six LGAs whose results were collated, Lyon dominated the election with a difference of over 80,000 votes and extended the lead by an additional 100,000 votes after the results of the remaining two local governments were collated.
The Governor-elect won in six LGAs while his PDP rival claimed the remaining two LGAs.
Lyon won in Brass, Ekeremor, Nembe, Ogbia, Southern Ijaw, and Yenagoa LGAs while Diri won in Kolokuma/Opokuma and Sagbama LGAs.
Declaring the APC candidate as the winner, Professor Orunmuwese explained that a total of 505,884 votes were cast, out of which 499,551 were counted as valid votes.
He added that a total of 922,562 voters registered for the election but 517,883 voters were accredited.
Buhari Congratulates David Lyon
President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the November 16 election in Bayelsa State, David Lyon, on his victory.
President Buhari commended APC supporters and other Nigerians in the State who exercised their civic rights in a peaceful manner, “notwithstanding the pockets of unrest recorded in some locations.”
He condemned the loss of lives and commiserated with the families of the victims, spokesperson Femi Adesina said in a statement.
According to him, President Buhari said, ‘‘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.’’
He said Mr Buhari noted that 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,” he said.
“The President looks forward to working with the incoming government to improve the lives of the people in Bayelsa State, while ensuring the security of lives and property of all citizens,” the statement said.
“President Buhari urges Governor-elect Lyon to carry other divergent interests along in the next phase of governance, imploring those not satisfied with the outcome of the poll to seek redress through the constitutionally established channels.”
As U.S., EU, UK, Others Raise Concerns Over Bayelsa, Kogi Elections
International observers who observed the Bayelsa and Kogi elections on Saturday have expressed concerns about the conduct and conditions under which the elections held.
The observers in a joint statement issued under the auspices of the Diplomatic Watch raised alarm over the reports of widespread incidents of violence and intimidation, some of which were witnessed by the teams in Kogi.
The Diplomatic Watch comprises of observers from Austria, the European Union Delegation, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
As long-standing friends of the country, the Diplomatic Watch has been present at every major election in Nigeria since 1999. As such, these countries according to the regular practice during the election had deployed teams to monitor the governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa states.
According to the press statement tweeted on the UK twitter handle, @UKinNigeria and the EU handle @ EUin Nigeria on Sunday, the Diplomatic Watch decried the level of violence perpetrated by thugs in both states, the evidence of vote-buying by some politicians, the killings in some of the polling units, and credible report of ballot box snatching in both Bayelsa and Kogi states.
Observer groups had also reported that the elections in both states were marred by a high level of violence; vote-buying, intimidation, gunshot, and ballot box snatching.
This, the Diplomatic Watch also observed, and stated in their report. They said there were reports of fatalities and people missing, including INEC staff.
“Our thoughts are with all victims and their families. We encourage all stakeholders, in particular, political leaders, to call for calm and we encourage security agencies to investigate thoroughly and bring perpetrators to justice,” they said.
The Diplomatic Watch, however, commended the commitment and resilience of voters in both states who came out to exercise their democratic rights.
While expressing their sympathy for those affected by the violence, including ordinary voters, INEC officials, members of the NYSC, civil society, and the media, they called on the government to provide a fair and safe playing ground where all Nigerians should be able to carry out their fundamental role.
They said the democratic process should be free from intimidation and harassment.
They added that they remain committed to working impartially with Nigerian authorities, INEC in particular, as well as civil society to consolidate and deepen democracy.
PDP Accuses Security Agents of Aiding Ballot Box Snatchers
In its reaction to the victory of the ruling APC in the Bayelsa polls, the opposition PDP said yesterday the conduct and outcome of the governorship elections in that state and Kogi had further dashed the hope Nigerians had in democratic practice and process.
The party, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, accused the APC-led 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,” it stated.
On the elections in Kogi State, the PDP, in another statement, cautioned INEC over the “fictitious” votes being bandied from Okene and other areas to favour the APC.
The party demanded the immediate cancellation of such allocated results, particularly in Okene Local Government Area.
The party said nobody would accept the provocative alteration of results from polling units as well as allocation of fictitious votes, particularly the awarding of 112, 000 votes to APC in Okene.
The Bayelsa State Chairman of the PDP, Moses Cleopas, accused the Army’s GOC of using the men under his command, “especially the Commander of the Artillery Brigade, to perpetrate electoral fraud in Bayelsa.”
He accused them of spearheading an alleged rewriting of the result of the election to rig it in favour of the APC.
According to him, “the soldiers arrested PDP leaders in Ogbia, including the council Chairman, Hon. Ebinyon Turner, and two lawmakers, Hon. Gibson Munalayefa and Mrs. Naomi Ogoli.
