Major political players in Bayelsa State have intensified their campaigns in an effort to give their candidates a strong chance of winning the governor’s race on November 11. Even though it appears that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are the front-runners, other political parties are shrewdly preparing to make a difference at the polls. Political pundits have referred to the political parties’ recent resumed distribution of funds and sharing of political appointments as a new method of buying votes. The leaders of all the parties, however, are cautiously optimistic in light of the results of the most recent general election. Just on Monday, the PDP revealed the make-up of its national campaign organization, which includes state governors chosen on the platform of the nation’s largest opposition party.
Senator Douye Diri, the current governor, is running for re-election on the PDP ticket; Chief Timipre Sylva, a former governor and the most recent Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, is the APC candidate. Other candidates include Waibodei Subiri for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and former Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) president Udengs Eradiri of the Labour Party.
As no one challenged the ticket with the sitting governor, it was the first time since the state’s creation that the PDP produced a candidate without opposition. Party members in the state granted him a right of first refusal because they think his performance over the previous three years justifies a second term.
As for Sylva of the APC, who won the primary after defeating five other candidates, including the party’s 2019 governorship candidate, Chief David Lyon, he is making a lot of effort to make amends with the other contenders who disapproved of the primary’s results. Six candidates fought it out for the party’s ticket in a difficult race that he climbed through. Sylva, the party’s leader in the state, is rumored to have control over over 80% of the APC’s state apparatus. She has a chance to unite the party and make the PDP fiercely competitive for the top seat in Creek Haven, Government House.
As Diri and Sylva enter the election seeking a second term each in office, the argument between the supporters of the two major parties, the PDP and APC, has progressed beyond simple sentiments bordering on fairness, equity, and justice. This time, the contentious subject is anyone’s ability to run for governor a second time. Both Diri and Sylva are running for re-election after serving one term in office. Diri is currently serving his first term as governor from 2020 to 2024, whereas Sylva was in office from 2007 to 2011. Therefore, Sylva is constitutionally permitted to run for another four years in Creek Haven, just as Diri is entitled to another four years in office.
The conversation quickly shifted from which party has been in power in the state since 1999 to whether it would be morally and legally acceptable for other candidates to support Diri’s eight-year tenure as governor after the parties finished their primaries and candidates emerged.
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On the one hand, Diri’s supporters think the governor has made significant progress since taking office three years ago and merits a second term to finish projects dispersed across the three senatorial districts roads that have made travel between the state capital and remote coastal communities possible.
In addition, the argument is consistent with the opinions of some observers who support the continuity of governance. They base their argument on the potential reasoning behind section 182 (subsection 1b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which states that a second term in office will guarantee the completion of long-term projects, which will then translate to sustainable development.
The issue of continuity, however, does not concern Sylva’s supporters in this election because their candidate was not given the chance to complete his megaprojects while he was governor. They contend that denying Sylva a second term in office was legal, and that denying Diri a second term in office will be legal as well.
Sylva was recently quoted as saying during a press conference that Bayelsans should give him another chance because his experience as the APC’s state leader from 2015 to the present and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources has given him the knowledge and insight he needs to govern the state much better than he did 16 years ago.
