‘We will make Bayelsa great again’ – Lyon reacts to electoral victory

The Governor-elect of Bayelsa State, David Lyon, has promised to make the state great again.

He made the pledge in a tweet on Monday, shortly before he was declared the winner of the keenly contested governorship election in Bayelsa.

In another tweet, Lyon thanked the people of the state for electing him and for their support during the exercise which held on Saturday.

The tweets came before and after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returned the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa as the winner of the election.

Bayelsa will be great again. #DavidLyonIsComing #BetterBayelsa pic.twitter.com/Rs1nPKi4n1

— David Lyon (@iamlyondavid) November 17, 2019

This Victory is for Bayelsans pic.twitter.com/ZzNVtF5PuJ

— David Lyon (@iamlyondavid) November 17, 2019

Thank you Bayelsans for your unflinching Support pic.twitter.com/FaRGVOul83

— David Lyon (@iamlyondavid) November 18, 2019

INEC’s Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, Professor Faraday Orunmuwese, declared Lyon as the winner after scoring the highest number of votes in the poll.

The APC candidate polled a total of 352,552 votes to defeat his closest rival of the PDP who scored 143,172 votes.

Following the declaration, President Muhammadu Buhari congratulated APC candidate on what he described as an “impressive victory”.

He, however, condemned the loss of lives in the state, particularly prior to the election and, commiserated with the families of the victims.

According to the President, it is unfortunate that pockets of unrest, mostly sponsored by desperate politicians were recorded during the poll.

He, therefore, promised to work with the incoming government to improve the lives of the people in Bayelsa, while ensuring the security of lives and property of all citizens.