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NIGERIA-VOTE
Nigeria’s ruling party wins election in key oil state
YENAGOA, Nigeria, Nov 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Nigeria’s ruling party on
Monday won the key oil-rich state of Bayelsa, the electoral body said, a sign
of President Muhammadu Buhari’s growing influence in opposition strongholds.
Forty-five candidates had taken part in the gubernatorial election on
Saturday which was marred by sporadic violence, including killings,
abduction, vote-buying, snatching of voting materials and voter intimidation.
Bayelsa has been ruled by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party since
Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999.
It is a key political battleground because of the lucrative oil and gas
sector that is largely based in the southern delta region.
David Lyon of Buhari’s All Progressive Congress (APC) won more than twice
the number of votes as his closest rival Douye Diri of the PDP, said the
Independent National Electoral Commission.
In a statement on Monday, the president congratulated the new governor,
but deplored the violence that characterised the vote.
“Violence during elections vitiates our commitment to demonstrate to the
world and upcoming generation that we are a people capable of electing
leaders in a peaceful and orderly manner,” he said, urging those unhappy the
results to seek legal redress rather than resort to violence.
Political analysts see the APC’s victory in an opposition stronghold as a
sign of Buhari’s growing influence.
“The victory is a big boost for APC and Buhari. It’s a measure of
acceptance and popularity of the president and his party in the core oil-rich
region of which Bayelsa is a part,” said Dapo Thomas, a politics and history
lecturer at Lagos university.
“I think it is also a reflection of the changing voting pattern of the
people in the region who want to be part of the central government headed by
Buhari.”
Bayelsa and central Kogi are among seven states where gubernatorial
elections are being held at different times from the general election due to
court rulings. The results of the Kogi election on Saturday were still
awaited.
Regional elections are fiercely contested in Nigeria, where governors are
powerful figures, controlling state finances and responsible for key areas
from education to health.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with 190 million people, has a long
history of electoral violence.
More than 50 people were killed during the February and March 2019 general
election which returned Buhari to power.
In 2011, hundreds of people were killed in post-election violence, mostly
in northern Nigeria.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1308 hrs