According to official results from five of the eight local councils, Governor Seriake Dickson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, emerged as the front-runner in the Bayelsa State Governorship election with 81,929 votes. He is closely followed by the All Progressives Congress, APC, standard bearer and immediate past governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, who received 56,514 votes.

With 14 wards in Sagbama Local Council, out of the 35,647 valid votes, the PDP got 28,934, the APC scored 5,382 while the PDM got 406 votes. PDP had the upper hand in Yenagoa, the state capital with 24,258 votes while Sylva got 14,563 votes. The PDM polled 451 votes.

For Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Council, the results are: PDP, 7,619; Apc, 6,896 and PDM, 137. Sylva won in his Local Council, Brass, with 21,755 votes compared to Dickson’s 6,516. Despite stiff competition, the ruling PDP won Ekeremor Local Council, which has 12 wards.

Governor Dickson of Bayelsa state is contesting for second term as governor. He was handpicked by former president Goodluck Jonathan (also an indigene of Bayelsa) as Governor of Bayelsa state in 2011 and has been accused of looting the state treasury. But even though Bayelsa is one of the states to receive high allocations from the federal government, Dickson’s tenure has allegedly been filled with the underdevelopment of infrastructure.

His main opponent, Timipre Sylva of the APC is a former Governor of Bayelsa state. Despite a setback when he contested in the primaries of his party, he came out stronger.