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President\nMuhammadu Buhari has congratulated Bayelsa state governor-elect David Lyon of\nthe All Progressives Congress (APC).
\nLyon\nshocked his PDP challenger Senator Douye Diri, by winning the governorship election\non Saturday by a large margin, in a state hitherto a stronghold of the PDP,\nsince 1999.
\nHis\nvictory was announced by the returning officer, Prof. Faraday Orumwense,\nVice-chancellor, University of Benin, at the INEC Collation Centre in Yenagoa\non Sunday night.
\nLyon won\nin six out of eight local government areas and scored 352,552 votes while the\nPDP candidate polled 143,172, more than half of the votes coming from Sagbama\nLGA, home base of Diri\u2019s sponsor, Governor Seriake Dickson.
\nBuhari in\na statement on Sunday night commended Lyon for the impressive victory, the\nfirst time the APC would win a governorship post east of the Nigeria since its\nformation in 2014.
\nPresident\nBuhari also commended APC supporters in particular and Nigerians in general in\nthe State who exercised their civic rights in a peaceful manner,\nnotwithstanding the pockets of unrest recorded in some locations.
\nCondemning\nthe loss of lives in Bayelsa, particularly prior to the election, the President\ncommiserated with the families of the victims.
\n\u2018\u2018Violence\nduring elections vitiates our commitment to demonstrate to the world and\nupcoming generation that we are a people capable of electing leaders in a\npeaceful and orderly manner.\u2019\u2019
\nHe noted\nthat while officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)\nand security agencies did their best within the ambit of the law to ensure\nfree, fair and credible elections, it was unfortunate that pockets of unrest,\nmostly sponsored by desperate politicians, were recorded during the poll.
\nThe\nPresident looked forward to working with the incoming government to improve the\nlives of the people in Bayelsa State, while ensuring the security of lives and\nproperty of all citizens.
\nPresident\nBuhari urged Governor-elect Lyon to carry other divergent interests along in\nthe next phase of governance, imploring those not satisfied with the outcome of\nthe poll to seek redress through the constitutionally established channels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Bayelsa state governor-elect David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Lyon shocked his PDP challenger Senator Douye Diri, by winning the governorship election on Saturday by a large margin, in a state hitherto a stronghold of the PDP, since 1999. His victory was announced by the returning officer, Prof. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[14,10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n