Sylva snatches Bayelsa APC governorship ticket from Lyon

Sylva emerged winner of the primary election which had five other contestants including the party's 2019 flag-bearer, Chief David Lyon.

Announcing the result of the primary at the APC state Secretariat in Yenagoa, the Chairman of the election committee, Maj. Gen. A T. Jibrin rtd, said Sylva polled a total of 52,061 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Joshua Machiver, who got 2,078 votes.

Lyon secured 1,584 votes to finish a distant third, while Festus Danumiebi, 557 votes, Prof. Maureen Etebu, 1,277 votes and Isikima Johnson, 584 votes completed the roaster.

The committee commended all the stakeholders in the state for the peaceful conduct of the governorship primary election.

In his acceptance speech, the former minister solicited the support of other contestants in order to secure victory for the APC in the November 11 election.

Represented by Sunny Goli, a member of the House of Representatives, Sylva said: “Lets us work together as family to win the Bayelsa governorship election on Nov. 11, 2023”.

You'd recall that Lyon flew the APC flag in the 2019 election and had defeated Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), only for the Supreme Court to nullify his victory over discrepancies in his Deputy's certificate.

Before the Friday primary, some stakeholders in the Bayelsa APC had appealed to the party to give Lyon a first refusal on the ticket but the appeal fell on deaf ears as Sylva and other aspirants insisted on entering the contest on a level playing ground.