Bayelsa’s Life-and-Death Election.

  
This particular election in Bayelsa is being contested with so much violence and bile because it is both a grudge and a proxy fight between the two leading candidates. Silva had in 2012 (as incumbent Governor), been displaced as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate by Hon. Seriake Dickson, then a member of the House of Representatives
Created from three local government areas excised out of the old Rivers State in 1996, Bayelsa is the least populated state in Nigeria and one of the smallest in size with eight local government areas. It also does not have too many communities even though the terrain is atrocious for development being mostly on water. Aside local governments like Brass with 152 communities and Southern Ijaw comprising Oporoma and Kolo-Ama districts with a combined number of 176 communities, most other local governments have small numbers of communities. Ekeremor has 28; Ogbia, 51; Sagbama, 32; Nembe, 37; Yenagoa, 62 and Kolokoma/Opokuma, 15.

However, as I stated earlier, elections in Bayelsa are almost akin to war and the state has been in the news lately because of its inconclusive gubernatorial polls that can be blamed on the desperation of the two gladiators who are almost evenly matched in all capacities. The incumbent Governor Dickson of the PDP is being challenged by the man he succeeded, former Governor Silva of the APC, the party that is now in power at the centre. With results from seven of the eight local governments in the state already in, Dickson is leading by some 33,000 votes.
However, Southern Ijaw is crucial not only because it has 120,827 registered voters but also because 109,137 of those prospective voters collected their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs). Aside that, there are also some 38,000 votes across the state that will be at play on Saturday. These are votes from polling stations where elections were either canceled or elections could not hold for various reasons. So, this is different from the Kogi State supplementary election scenario. Saturday will determine who wins the gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State.