Ahead of the forthcoming by-elections into the senatorial seats of Bayelsa Central and West Senatorial districts, some supporters have already started clamouring for immediate past governor of the state, Henry Seriake Dickson and the sacked governor-elect of the state, David Lyon, to fill the vacant seats in their respective districts.
The Bayelsa Central and West senatorial district seats were declared vacant recently by Senate President Ahmed Lawan, following the election and subsequent swearing-in of the former occupants, Senator Douye Diri and Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo as governor and deputy governor of the state respectively.
Following the Senate president’s statement on the two vacant seats, some supporters of former governor Dickson have already taken to the social media calling on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to give Dickson an unchallenged ticket to fill the vacant position of Bayelsa West.
They are also posting posters of the former governor on the social media, describing him as the voice of Ijaw nation who should be supported to the upper legislative chambers in the country for the good of Ijaw ethnic nationality.
Prior to the end of his tenure, ex-governor Dickson was criticised by some PDP faithful for projecting then Senator, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, as the running mate to Diri, so that he will fill the seat of Bayelsa West after his tenure.
The eventual nomination of Ewhrudjakpo as the PDP running mate to Diri did not go down well with some party faithful and ended up causing some key stakeholders of the party to defect to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
The aggrieved PDP members thereafter joined hands with the APC during the November 16, 2019 governorship election, which led to the defeat of the PDP, but for the Supreme Court judgement that disqualified the APC candidate and gave PDP a lifeline of ruling the state again. Also, supporters of the ousted governor-elect, Chief David Lyon, are seriously campaigning for him to step into the seat of Senator Douye Diri in the Senate. Lyon, as it stands, remains a very popular politician from Bayelsa State at the moment.
It took his popularity to defeat the PDP which has been ruling the state since the inception of the current dispensation in 1999, in the November 16, 2019 governorship election, though the Supreme Court quashed his inauguration. A PDP chieftain in the state, who declined to be named, told Daily Trust that if Lyon accepts to join the race, PDP should not waste resources by sponsoring a candidate for Bayelsa Central Senatorial district, because the result will already be known before the election. But the spokesman to Chief David Lyon, Mr Alphine Ogor, said the party has not taken such a decision for his boss to take Bayelsa Central Senatorial seat as a compensation, but thanked those promoting the candidature of his boss. Similarly, the spokesman for Dickson, Mr Fidelis Soriwei, said his boss will make his position known soon.
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