Bayelsa by-elections: Harvest of support as candidates scramble for votes

Ahead of the rescheduled senatorial by-elections in Bayelsa Central and West senatorial districts, different political party candidates have been visiting different wards and villages scrambling for votes to win the poll. Thirteen political parties have fielded candidates for the by-elections in the state, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The contest is between […]

Ahead of the rescheduled senatorial by-elections in Bayelsa Central and West senatorial districts, different political party candidates have been visiting different wards and villages scrambling for votes to win the poll.

Thirteen political parties have fielded candidates for the by-elections in the state, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The contest is between the PDP and APC.

In Bayelsa Central, PDP is fielding Mr Moses Cleopas as its candidate, while APC is fielding a philanthropist, Chief Abel Ebifemowei.

Also, in Bayelsa West, it will be a clash of the titans as immediate part governor of the state, Henry Seriake Dickson of PDP, will square up with the former deputy governor, Chief Peremobowei, of APC who is said to be a grassroots politician.

As it stands, Dickson in Bayelsa West seems to have an upper hand over the APC candidate due to a recent High Court judgement that disqualified Ebebi as APC candidate and the influence of the former governor who succeeded in installing his party man as the governor of the state against all odds.

Before INEC fixed the new date of December 5, 2020 for the election, the two dominant political parties in the state were going on with their campaigns as they had done before the elections were shifted from October 31, 2020.

In Bayelsa central, the APC and PDP candidates were in different locations rallying for votes as at Friday before the new date was communicated.

Already, the All Progressives Congress Democracy Vanguard (APCDV), an APC support group, has commended the judgment of the Federal High Court, Yenagoa, which nullified the APC primary election for Bayelsa West senatorial by-election.

Coordinator of the APCDV, Ayibadoubra Jacobs, in a statement after the judgment, noted that the judgment was a great effort by the judiciary to sanitise the chaotic internal democratic process of political parties in the country.

Speaking with journalists recently at Opolo community in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, the APC senatorial candidate for Bayelsa Central, Chief Abel Ebifemowei, expressed optimism that he would win the poll.

The candidate of APC in Bayelsa West, Peremobowei Ebebi, could not be reached as his media aide, John Gold’s phone was switched off.