ALAMBO DATONYE
Governor Douye Diri says with the twenty-twenty-three Governorship election over, there is need for the people of Bayelsa to unite and work for the development of the State.
The Governor made the call at a service after he was declared winner of the just concluded governorship election.
Governor Diri, the candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party defeated fifteen other contestants to earn a second term in Creek Haven.
Governor Douye Diri, the incumbent and candidate of the PDP polled a total of 175,196 votes to beat former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Timipre Sylva who scored 110,108 votes while the standard bearer of the Labour Party, Engineer Udengs Eradiri who came a distant third with 905 votes.
This was as declared by the Returning Officer for the 2023 Bayelsa State Governorship election and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Professor Faruq Kuta who said out of the 1,056,862 total registered voters, 372,000 were accredited for the polls in the State. While total votes cast were 291,212, valid votes stood at 287,554 while rejected ballots were 3,658.
But before the declaration, the State Agent for the All Progressives Congress, Chief Dennis Otiotio, rejected the outcome and vowed not to sign the result sheet.
The Peoples Democratic Party State agent, Chief Talford Ongolo however said the result was a true reflection of the will of the people.
Meanwhile, supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate celebrated the victory across major areas and the government house.
Addressing his supporters at the King of Glory Chapel at Government House, Governor Douye Diri thanked God and the people of the State for giving him the mandate to govern for a second term.
The Governor who said his party ran a community based campaign said it was time for the people to come together and work towards the development of the State.
From the declared result, Governor Diri won in six out of the eight local government areas of the State, except in Brass and Nembe LGAs and a difference of over 65 thousand votes from his closest challenger.
