Dickson looks set for victory as he takes commanding lead in Bayelsa supplementary poll

INCUMBENT Bayelsa State governor Seriake Dickson looks set to be returned for a second term after he took a commanding lead in yesterday's supplementary elections across the state according to official figures just released.

 

In the initial polls on December 5, the election was declared inconclusive because the results from the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area were cancelled and there were discrepancies elsewhere. According to the figures released from the other seven local government areas of the state, Governor Dickson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had 105,748 votes compared with 72,594 for Chief Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

 

Yesterday, the supplementary polls took place and the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) released official results from Yenagoa, Brass ,Sagbama and Ogbia Local Government Areas. Governor Dickson won  in Yenagoa, Sagbama and Ogbia while Chief Sylva was the clear winner in Brass.

 

In Yenagoa Local Government Area, Governor Dickson polled 839 votes to Chief Sylva’s 448, while the consolidated results for Yenagoa  showed that the governor got  25,097 votes as against Chief Sylva’s 15,011 votes. Former governor Chief Sylva on the other hand  recorded 1,679 votes  in  six polling units in his Brass Local Government Area to bring his total there to 23,434 votes, while Governor Dickson got only five votes in the area.

 

In Ogbia, the local government area of former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan,1290 voters in 27 polling units  threw their lot in with Governor Dickson, extending his lead  there from 13,051 to 14,341 votes, while Chief Sylva got  139 votes leaving his total at 9,249. Governor Dickson got 180 votes in Sagbama  Local Government Area, while Chief Sylva got 111 in the area.

 

Inec is still collating results from Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, which has the largest number of voters in the state. Its voters almost equal those in the seven other local government areas of Bayelsa State put together.

 

However, there are signs things are not going well for the APC, as early this morning,  its agent in Brass, Denis Otiotio, walked out from the collation centre after accusing the returning officer of denying him an opportunity to address issues raised by the PDP agent. Hours before Inec began to broadcast the result, the PDP and the APC had  launched into a game of wits with both camps claiming victory for their candidates.