More than 48 hours after the Bayelsa governorship election, Governor Douye Diri has emerged victorious, clinching a second term as the leader of the coastal state. The Returning Officer, Prof Faruq Kuta, declared Diri the winner after a fiercely contested exercise, stating, “That Diri Douye of the PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
Diri, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, secured a total of 175,196 votes, surpassing his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Timipre Sylva, who polled 110,108 votes. The PDP flagbearer defeated his closest rival by 65,088 votes, with the Labour Party (LP) coming a distant third with a total of 905 votes.
Sylva, the immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum, made his third attempt to become the governor of Bayelsa State, facing a challenging journey marked by legal hurdles. About one month before the election, the Federal High Court in Abuja initially disqualified him, citing a breach of the constitutional limit on the number of terms. However, the Appeal Court later reversed Sylva’s disqualification, paving the way for his candidacy. Despite the legal battles, the 2023 election ended in defeat for Sylva.
As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) began collating results, prominent PDP chieftains, including Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State, and Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, gathered in Yenegoa to rally support for Diri’s re-election. The victory marks a significant political milestone for Governor Douye Diri and sets the stage for his continued leadership in Bayelsa State.
