During the Bayelsa State governorship elections which took place on December 5, former governor Chief Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was involved in a head-to-head battle with incumbent Governor Seriake Dickson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). According to the figures from the other seven local government areas so far declared by Inec, Governor Dickson has 105,748 votes compared with 72,594 for Chief Sylva.
Due to the high number of instances of electoral malpractices in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and some units in the seven other local government areas of the state, Inec had declared the poll inconclusive. Now, however, the new date has been agreed upon at a stakeholders meeting held in Abuja yesterday.
At the meeting, it was resolved that the police should play a leading role in the rescheduled poll as against the military dominance during the botched December 6 election in the area. Also, the distribution of electoral materials is to be decentralised as against the previous practice that provided windows for electoral fraud and violence, which resulted in the alleged death of some persons.
At the Abuja meeting, attended by Inec chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu and national security adviser Major General Babagana Monguno, the governorship candidates of all the contending political parties and other stakeholders were also present. They deliberated extensively on the incident that led to the cancellation of the election in the affected areas and proffered solutions.
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