Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi polls: APC, PDP, LP, SDP test might

<p>Residents of Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi go to the polls today as they elect a governor for their respective states.</p>, <p>In the oil-rich Bayelsa State, a total of 16 candidates are jostling for the governorship seat.</p>, <p>However, DAILY POST reports that the incumbent and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Douye Diri, (seeking a second term); former Governor of the State, Timipre Sylva, who is bearing the flag of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Udengs Eradiri of the Labour Party, LP, are the heavyweights in the election.</p>, <p>APC is upbeat to reclaim Bayelsa, a state it won four years ago but its candidate, David Lyon was sacked by the Supreme Court.</p>, <p>Prior to the APC’s then victory, Bayelsa has been a PDP State, a situation that has been consolidated by Governor Diri.</p>, <p>But Diri, a former Senator representing Bayelsa central senatorial district from 2019 to 2020 described himself as a “miracle governor” over the manner he entered the office.</p>, <p>He became governor despite Lyon winning the election with 352,552 votes against PDP’s 143,172 votes.</p>, <p>This time, Diri became the PDP flag bearer for the 2023 election through consensus in April 2023.</p>, <p></p>, <p>The former Minister of State for Petroleum is one of the main contenders for the polls. He ruled the state for four years from 2007 to 2012.</p>, <p>There was contention about the former Minister’s eligibility owing to the argument that he took oath of office twice and had served for five years.</p>, <p>Sylva was disqualified by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on October 9 on the above stated grounds. Reprieve came his way when an Appeal Court in Abuja upturned the ruling of the High Court.</p>, <p></p>, <p>On the other side of the divide is the LP, a party that is harnessing the influence of its presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi.</p>, <p>Eradiri, the LP candidate could be said to be highly dependent on the performance of the party in the 2023 elections and this underscor