Sylva Defeats Lyon, Four Others To Clinch Bayelsa APC Governorship Ticket

Former Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has clinched the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for Bayelsa State.

The governorship primaries held on Friday across the state.

The former minister who secured a landslide victory, defeated David Pereworimini Lyon and four others in the primaries that were conducted in all the 105 wards in the state.

The party adopted a direct primary mode for the exercise.

Announcing the results at the state APC Secretariat, the chairman of the APC Primary Election Committee and Returning Officer, Maj. Gen. A. T. Jibrin, retd, said Sylva polled a total of 52,061 votes to emerge the winner.

An ex-agitator, Joshua Maciver came a distant second with 2,078 votes, while Lyon polled 1,582 votes to come third.

THE WHISTLER reports that failure to announce Lyon as the party’s sole candidate as he wanted made him shun the exercise even as he was not represented by any agent at the primary polls.

Meanwhile, Ongoebi Etebu Maureen got 1271 votes to come fourth, while Ogomade Isikima Johnson polled 584 votes.

Festus Daumiebi, who walked out of the hall while the results were being called polled 557 votes.

According to Jibrin, out of the 142,031 registered members of the party, 58,171 persons were accredited and voted.

He blamed difficult terrain of the state for the delay in the coalition and announcement of results.

“Chief Timipre Sylva, having scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared as the winner,” he announced during the declaration of results.