FORMER Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has won the All Progressives Congress governorship ticket (APC) for Bayelsa state.
Sylva defeated five other contestants, including David Lyon, who was elected governor on the APC platform in the state in 2019, but had his victory overturned by the Supreme Court over discrepancies in the credentials of his running mate, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo, barely 24 hours before his inauguration.
The former Bayelsa state governor polled 52,061 votes in the direct primary conducted across 105 wards and eight local government areas in the state between Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15.
Many party stalwarts had thought Lyon would enjoy an automatic ticket, but the calculation changed with the entrance of Sylva, who wanted an open contest among the aspirants.
Sylva defeated Joshua Machiver, who got 2,078 votes. Lyon came third with 1,584 votes.
Another aspirant, Festus Danumiebi, got 557 votes, and Maureen Etebu, a professor, won 1,277 votes, while Isikima Johnson garnered 584.
The ICIR reports that Sylva, who led Bayelsa State between 2007 and 2012, could not win a second term in 2015 when he vied for the office against Seriake Dickson of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), now a senator.
Sylva ran for the office on the APC platform that year. He had before then been a member of the PDP, on which he won his election as a governor.
President Muhammadu Buhari thereafter appointed him as a Minister of State for Petroleum during his first term.
He held the position until he resigned in March 2023 to contest the APC governorship primary.
Sylva will face the incumbent Governor Douye Diri who secured the PDP ticket for the poll unchallenged.
The ICIR reports that the PDP has won all governorship elections in the state since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999. The late General Sani Abacha created the state in 1996.
The governorship election comes up in the state on November 11.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org