The Independent National Electoral Commission on Sunday night declared the incumbent and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Hon. Seriake Dickson, the winner of the Bayelsa State governorship election.
Dickson polled 134,998 votes to defeat his closest rival, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress, who got 86,852 votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission Returning Officer for the election in the state, Prof. Zana Akpagu, who announced the result at the State Collation Centre in Yenagoa said, “I wish to declare that Mr. Henry Seriake Dickson, with a total votes of 134,998, having satisfied the requirement of the law and scoring the highest votes, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
The result was announced on Sunday night.
This followed the conclusion of the supplementary election held on Saturday.
The initial election was held on December 5, 2015.
Official figures released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that he garnered 23,081 votes in Southern Ijaw as against 10,216 won by his main rival, Chief Timipre Sylva of the federal-ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)
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Courtesy: Punch
Gov.Dickson went into the supplementary election with a clear advantage after leading in the initial election held on December 5, 2015 but declared inconclusive by INEC.
Dickson in reaction thanked the electorate for their gallantry in ensuring his re-election for another four years, but said there would be no celebration because of the number of lives that were lost in the course of the election.
The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, on Sunday night in Yenagoa, however, vowed that he would go after the killers during the election and bring them to justice, while promising to work tirelessly to justify the mandate given to him “as we tried to do in the first four years to almost universal acknowledgement and approbation.”
He called on his political opponents to join hands in the onerous task of providing the needs of Bayelsans and the challenge of improving their material condition remained his focus.
He said, “To the extent that the people ensured that they spoke loud and clear and that their choice clearly emerged provide some reassurance that our democracy is coming of age. “Sadly, however, the elections were conducted at the price of several lives lost and mayhem visited on many communities by mindless brigands clearly suborned by those who do not respect the democratic process and have equally scant regard for the sanctity of lives and property.
“Unfortunately, we can’t celebrate because people have died.
“I want to assure you that we will do everything possible to identify the culprits and bring them to justice. I want to express my heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the families of the innocent victims of the violence. The government will be undertaking a full accounting of what happened.
“The mandate you have given us having been clearly demonstrated, I want to assure you that my administration will work tirelessly to justify this mandate as we tried to do in the first four years to almost universal acknowledgement and approbation.”
The PDP Governors Forum also commended the people of Bayelsa State for standing against what it called brute force and terror unleashed on them in the Saturday supplementary election by the APC.
The forum in a statement by the coordinator of the forum, Mr. Osaro Onaiwu, in Abuja, said but for the resilience and determination of the people, the “APC was inordinately out to capture the state as if it was a trophy of war”.
The statements reads i part, “It is unfortunate that a party that came into office through a free and fair process offered by an incumbent has neglected to imbibe democratic tenets by engaging in thuggery and outright violence as if the state is a trophy of war.
“The Bayelsa election is a wake-up call to all Nigerians to reject any extra constitutional means by which the APC intends to cling to power.
“We call on our members in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Edo States to brace up in the coming days and show that the PDP is indeed the custodian of democracy as it has done for the past 16 years.”
