By Emmanuel Aziken, Emeka Mammah, Samuel Oyadongha, Daniel Idonor, Henry Umoru &  Ben Agande
LAGOS — Member of the House of Representatives from Bayelsa State, Serikae Dickson was yesterday returned as the next Governor of the State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Dickson was adjudged the winner of the votes having polled a total of 417, 500 votes out of the 467,004 votes cast, representing 89% of total votes cast in the Saturday election.

Governor-elect of Bayelsa State, Henry Dickson (middle) acknowledging cheers from supporters at his home after his victory at the 2012 Bayelsa State Governorship election in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, yesterday. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke

The turnout of voters in the state was put at 72% by the Returning Officer for the election and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port-Harcourt, Prof Joseph Ajienka.

The turnout as announced yesterday was against the trend of earlier reports at the end of the voting which characterized the election as being marred by voters’ apathy.

Declaring the result of the election yesterday, Prof. Joseph Ajienka Returning Officer for the election and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port-Harcourt, said that Dr. Imoro Kubor of the Change Advocacy Party, CAP came a distant second with 22,534 votes while Kemela Okara of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN  polled 9,627 votes. Famous Daunemigha of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC  trailed the pack with 3,548 votes.

“Seriake Dickson, having satisfied the requirement of the law by scoring the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner of the governorship election in Bayelsa State and returned elected,” the returning officer declared yesterday.

Following the announcement, Dickson at a press conference in Yenogoa declared that he was humbled by the victory. He said it was not a personal victory but victory for all Ijaws, giving a prominent mention to President Goodluck Jonathan who is from the state for his efforts.

“I wish to particularly thank my boss and elder brother, Mr. President and the leader of our great party, His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, for his fatherly support and unflinching commitment to Bayelsa State,” Dickson said in his acceptance speech yesterday.

He immediately declared his readiness to pursue peace with all his adversaries, saying that there is “no victor, no vanquished” from the election. He equally pledged that his campaign promises were not just meant for verbal expression but insisted that he would faithfully implement, to the letter, every promise made during the campaigns.

Against the trend of reports that the vote was characterized by voters apathy the results declared yesterday showed huge voting in most of the local government areas of the state.

In President Jonathan’s Ogbia local government where the President himself lamented on voting day about voters’ apathy, the results declared showed a turnout of 75% with the PDP polling 94% of the votes.

In Sagbama, where 79% of the 69,098 registered voters turned out, the PDP scored 92.7% of the total votes cast.

The lowest turnout according to the INEC  declaration was in Yenogoa where only 52.5 % of the registered 133,122 voters turned out to vote, the PDP scored 88.5% of the total votes cast.

The proclamation of Dickson as Governor-Elect was immediately hailed by President Jonathan, Senate President David Mark and Speaker Aminu Tambuwal among others.

Welcoming the election of Dickson, President Jonathan urged him to dedicate himself to the improvement of the lot of the people saying that he was elated that the Bayelsa electorate sided him in returning the PDP candidate.

In the statement issued on his behalf by presidential spokesman, Dr. Rueben Abati, Jonathan was quoted as saying:

“As they prepare to assume office at the helm of governance in Bayelsa State, the President urges them to fully dedicate their tenure to giving effective, purposeful and result-oriented leadership to the people of the state who clearly reaffirmed their confidence in the PDP on Saturday.”

“President Jonathan expects that Hon. Dickson and his incoming administration in Bayelsa State will work with total dedication and commitment to justify the peoples’ confidence by rapidly delivering visible and significant improvements in the living conditions of residents of the state”, the statement said.

Senate President David Mark on his part in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Paul Mumeh, while congratulating the victorious PDP flag bearer implored him to rise up to the challenge of massive infrastructural development of the entire state which he claimed is in dire need of upliftment.

According to Mark: “You should rise up to the challenge of even development of the state. That is the sure way of building trust and confidence in your administration. You must bring honour and pride to the people of Bayelsa in particular and Nigerians at large.

“With this victory, you have a sacred mandate to lead the state to greater heights. As a father to all the citizens of the state, you should bring everybody on board and ensure that no part of the state feels a sense of marginalisation”.

Speaker Aminu Tambuwal on his part in a statement issued on his behalf by his Special Adviser Media and Public Affairs, Imam Imam called on Dickson to unify the various tendencies in the state even as he called on all stakeholders in the state to rally round the incoming Governor.

“The people of Bayelsa have made the right choice. I, on behalf of the members of the House of Representatives, congratulate Hon Dickson and wish him a fruitful tenure” the speaker said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, yesterday applauded the conduct of the election by INEC.

The NBA in a statement said: “INEC colour coded the ballot papers and made them Local Government specific. This is a good innovation that should continue to be replicated in other states.”

The NBA however frowned over what it described as poor location of polling booths.

“The location of polling units remains a significant concern. Some of the Polling Units in Bayelsa State are located in people’s houses, mechanics workshops, and street corners and peoples corridors.

“Some of them are also too close to each other.  The location of some of these polling units in awkward places made it difficult for Presiding Officers to set up properly and guarantee the secrecy of the vote in terms of the location of voting cubicles.”

“The location of the polling units also posed challenges to the security agencies in providing adequate security cover for the elections as some of them were in vulnerable places that could not be cordoned off in period of crisis,” the NBA siad it a statement by its Election Working Group. SWG.

The statement was jointly signed by Dafe Akpedeye, SAN, and Festus Okoye, both co-chairmen of the group.