Senator Douye Diri, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the off-cycle Bayelsa State governorship election, has emerge winner of the Saturday, November 11, 2023, poll.
Diri’s overwhelming victory became clear following the consolidation of election results from the state’s eight local government units on Monday afternoon.
Prof. Faruq Kuta, the state’s returning officer, announced that the exercise had come to an end at about 12:42 p.m. on Monday, about 48 hours after the election held in the oil-rich South-South State, as he was expected to formally announce the winner of the election thereafter.
The incumbent Governor Diri won the election in six of the eight local government areas of the state, while his closest challenger and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, cliched only two LGAs.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Diri became the winner after he polled a total of 175,196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 115,262 votes.
The PDP candidate won the election with a margin of 65,088 votes, ahead of his APC counterpart and others trailing far behind.