The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented the Certificate of Return to Senator Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The electoral commission in a briefing at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja declared the Diri winner of the November 16 Bayelsa governorship election.
This followed the sacking of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) David Lyon by the Supreme Court on Thursday.
The apex court held that the fact that Lyon’s deputy, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremieoyo had submitted a forged certificate and various names to INEC had infected Lyon.
The court therefore ordered INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Lyon and reissue same to the candidate of the party that received the next highest votes with the required spread.
READ ALSO: Bayelsa: Atiku Hails S’ Court Verdict, Says Diri Will Deliver
It happened to be the PDP.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu told journalists that Diri was declared the winner after top officials met on Friday morning to review the results of the election, without the votes of the APC which have been voided by the court.
“The total votes cast after excluding those of the APC now stand at 146,999. PDP polled 143,172 and scored 25 percent as required by the law,” Yakubu said during the briefing.
Meanwhile, the new governor-elect of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, said that God has healed Bayelsa state with the judgment of the Supreme Court that disqualified the election APC’s David Lyon and returned him as the winner of the election.
Diri who spoke after being presented with his Certificate of Return at INEC Headquarters in Abuja stated: “I will never forget the judiciary, it is the last hope of the common man. With what happened, God has healed our State Bayelsa. Within this time, God has taken us through a journey of reconciliation and forgiveness”.
Diri and his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjiakpo were presented with their Certificates of Return by May Agbamu-Uche Mbu, INEC Commissioner in charge of Legal.
