The Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, claimed on Sunday that God used last year’s governorship election, which he won on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, to rescue the state from a cabal.

According to him, the cabal had been misleading the people and they viewed the state as their personal estate.

Diri spoke at the thanksgiving service held at the Ecumenical Centre, Igbogene, to commence the activities for his second term inauguration with his deputy, Lawrence Ehwrudjakpo, on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, in Yenagoa.

Diri was reelected at the November 11, 2023 governorship election, polling a total of 175,196 votes to defeat his major opponent, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress, who scored 110,108 votes.

Following their electoral victory, the governor-elect and the deputy governor-elect received their certificates of return on November 17, 2023.

Diri said, “If not for God, the story would have been different.”

He noted that though governorship election was conducted on the same day in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states,  the Bayelsa State’s results were announced last despite having fewer local government areas.

Diri, while addressing the congregation, said, “So, in this thanksgiving, it is not for the PDP;  it is not for the APC. It is for you and me that Bayelsa State has been delivered from a group of people who have seen it as their entity, who are called the cabal, to continue to mislead our people and the young ones.

“You have given Bayelsa State back to the people of Bayelsa State. And it is only because God was with us. If it were not for God, our election which was adjudged to be one of the very peaceful elections, relatively and comparatively, to previous elections that have been held in the state, (would have been otherwise). So our duty today is to say, ‘God, thank you’.”

In his goodwill message, the immediate-past deputy governor of the state, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John-Jonah (retd.), said the November 11 poll was a contest “between light and darkness” as well as “peace and violence”.

“On the election day, Bayelsans made a choice between light and darkness, and peace and violence. If the result of the election was otherwise, everybody would have been surprised,” he said.

John-Jonah, who is the chairman of the Bayelsa Elders Council, also pledged his support for the administration and its developmental agenda of prosperity for the state.

Also speaking, the Leader of Bayelsa State Caucus in the House of Representatives and member representing Sagbama-Ekeremor Federal Constituency, Fred Agbedi, and a former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Werinipre Seibarugu, congratulated Diri and Ehwrudjakpo on their victory at the poll.

They urged them to remain focused and build on the peace, security and progress of the state in their second term. (Punch)