The governorship election in Bayelsa State is still too close to call, as the incumbent Governor, Duoye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), faces a stiff challenge from Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
As of Monday afternoon, he had secured 150,511 votes, while Sylva had 91,934 votes, leaving a margin of 58,577 votes. However, the result of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area (LGA), which is the largest in the state, is yet to be announced.
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Diri has won five out of the seven LGAs declared so far, namely Sagbama, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Ogbia, Yenagoa and Nembe. Sylva has won his home LGA of Brass, where he polled 18,431 votes against Diri’s 12,602 votes. He also won Ekeremor LGA with 14,602 votes, while Diri got 4,989 votes.
The election, which was held on Saturday, November 11, 2023, was marred by violence, intimidation and ballot box snatching in some areas.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will announce the final result after resolving the issues in Southern Ijaw LGA.
The winner of the election will be sworn in for a four-year term on February 14, 2024. Diri became the governor of Bayelsa State in February 2020, after the Supreme Court nullified the victory of David Lyon of the APC, who had been declared the winner of the November 2019 election.