Five days to the November 16 gubernatorial election in the oil-rich Bayelsa State, the election environment shows a very tough battle between the two arch rival political parties, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its stubborn opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
And so, for both PDP’s Senator Douye Diri and the standard-bearer of APC, Chief David Lyon, the showdown presents as about the fiercest and trickiest gubernatorial contest in the 20-year history of the Niger Delta state.
To underscore the high premium placed on the contest, the two frontline candidates are backed by powerful political figures in the state. While Diri reclines on the power of incumbency of outgoing Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, his APC counterpart, Lyon, has the backing of the 2015 governorship candidate of the party and current Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva.
In a bid to cover much ground before the Thursday deadline for the close of electioneering, both candidates and their supporters have traversed the length and breadth of Bayelsa communities in search of voters’ endorsement.
Right from 1999, three years after the state was created, PDP had always enjoyed a roller-coastal-ride to the Creek Haven, the seat the state’s Government House. However, that record seems no longer to hold true, following the emergence of APC as custodian of federal government, but also the party’s consistent incursion in Bayelsa politics.
The general impression among residents and parties’ faithful is that November 16 election would be tough, especially given that electoral contests in the state have shown that the opposition APC is steadily gaining grounds on the dominant PDP.
In the recent general election, APC clinched one senatorial seat, two House of Representatives seats and trounced the ruling party in three state constituencies for the House of Assembly.
That rising profile could explain why, with less than a week to the election, the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Lyon, appears to be waxing stronger, thereby making the contest a little dicey for the once dominant PDP and its master-strategist and leader, Governor Dickson.
With the sing-song of ‘Lion’ as his supporters call the APC standard bearer, on the streets and creeks of Bayelsa, Chief Lyon’s candidacy has led to the formation of multiple political groups, all advocate and routing for him.
Yenagoa, the state capital, has been festooned with various campaign offices, such that even the name ‘Lion’ has become common as children chorus the songs composed in his name.
Residential houses, which hitherto bore the colours of the PDP flag, have gradually taken to the more colorful APC symbol. And, despite the internal wrangling in the party, Lyon appears to enjoy a measure of mass appeal, both in the state capital and at the neighboring communities.
Observers say the unpopular way that PDP candidate, Diri, was chosen during the primaries, contributed to the growing popularity of Lyon, since it is generally believed that the PDP flag bearer was imposed on the party by Governor Dickson.
It would be recalled that most party leaders had kicked against the emergence of Diri, at the PDP primaries, a development that actually compelled of its members to defect to APC.
Another factor that might work in favour of APC’s Lyon is that, coming from one of the largest Southern Ijaw Local Government Areas of the state; the large voting population would most assuredly go his way. He is adored in his council and ward by both the young and the old, based on what the people describe as his philanthropic disposition.
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Holes on the ‘Umbrella’
The general apprehension about the PDP standard bearer is said to be his inclination towards stinginess. And although he is acknowledged as a more experience administrator, the people fear that his administration may end up causing more hunger and starvation in the state.
A former Commissioner for Youth and Sports during the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan as governor, Diri , who has also been a teacher and a businessman, is currently a prominent member of incumbent governor Dickson’s political grouping known as ‘Restoration Caucus’.
Ironically, with his rich credentials and political acumen, his controversial emergence, coupled with the subsequent imposition of Dickson’s former Commissioner for Works, Senator Lawrence Ewhrujakpor, as his running mate is said to be tearing Bayelsa PDP apart.
While Ewhrujakpor is a close confidant of Dickson’s, Diri is said to be the outgoing governor’s stooge. Words making round the state is the incumbent Senator was planted by Dickson with the apparent intention of taking his place at the Red Chamber, after handing over to incoming governor on 2020 Valentine Day, February 14 of next year.
And while the electioneering goes on, there seems to be no love lost between the candidate and his running mate over who disburses their campaign funds. Insiders confided in The Guardian that there is a seething cold war between the two men, as the deputy governorship candidate is said to be calling all the shots.
