…As Lokpobiri rejects results
Oil magnate and businessman David Lyon has won the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries in Bayelsa State.
The results, announced by Senator Emmanuel Ocheja, the Collation officer, showed that Lyon polled 42,138 votes to defeat five aspirants.
Mrs. Desiye Nsirim came second with 1,533 votes, while Ebitimi Amgbare was third with 633 votes.
Senator Heineken Lokpobiri scored 571 votes to come fourth while Prof. Ongoebi Etebu and Preye Aganaba got 564 and 354 votes.
Ocheja said he was standing in for the Returning officer and Yobe State Governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, who was absent.
He said six aspirants contested the election conducted through direct primaries, and ratified by the National Executive Committee (NEC).
Meanwhile, former Minister of State for Agriculture Lokpobiri has rejected the result. The senator said he would get details of what transpired, insisting he and his team never participated in any primaries.
Lokpobiri said there was no way he would be defeated by Lyon, adding that many members supported him.
He wondered why the primary was held in a hotel, saying members gathered at the secretariat in Yenagoa waiting for the committee members to arrive.
The aspirant queried why a result was purportedly declared by someone other than the Returning officer, who chaired the committee.
He hoped the national leadership would look into the development and ensure a credible process to throw up a popular candidate for APC.
