‘My hope are laid up within my own bosom, for he is not alone with whom the Lord is; when he falls, he shall not be dashed to pieces, for the Lord sustains him in His hand.” –Thomas Becket
Omoniyi Salaudeen
By now, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State must be regretting the day it settled for Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo as the running mate of its standard bearer in the November 16, 2019 governorship election, David Lyon, for its failure to do a thorough background check on him. Often times, such decision making is always a tough one, particularly as different competing interests have to be taken into consideration. Other than that, compatibility issue, religious sensitivity, as well as rotational arrangement also have to be factored in so as not to undermine the victory chances of the party. In the case of Bayelsa State, there was no much fuss about religion being a predominately Christian state. Neither was there any report in the media of major disagreement among the stakeholders.
For the first time since the advent of the present democratic dispensation in 1999, the opposition party enjoyed the full complement of the state establishment, notably former President Goodluck Jonathan who was not too comfortable with candidate imposition in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and allegedly gave a tacit support to Lyon.
And so when the election came, it was an easy walkover for the APC’s candidates, who won with a landslide. According to INEC, Lyon recorded 68 per cent of the total vote cast and won six out of eight local government areas in the state. On the overall, he polled 352, 552 votes to defeat his closest rival Douye Diri of the PDP, who scored 143, 172 votes.
Unfortunately, conspiracy of silence over Degi-Eremienyo’s questionable academic credentials turned out to be the party’s greatest undoing. A killjoy, to put it mildly! Lyon was already deeply engrossed with scheduled rehearsal for his formal handover ceremony, receiving training on how to inspect the guard of honour, etcetera, when the Supreme Court bomb fell and declared his election null and void on the grounds that his deputy presented false information to the INEC.
To be sure, Degi, as Lyon’s running mate is fondly called, is not a new entrant into politics. Prior to his present position as vice chairman of two committees – Special Duties Committee and Gas Resources Committee – in the Senate, he had served as Bayelsa Commissioner for Local Government Affairs in the administration of former Governor Goodluck Jonathan and also Executive Director at the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA). But he was quite negligent that he could not adopt a consistent name title to be identified with. He paid dearly for it. So his co-candidate for the governorship ticket and the people of Bayelsa State, who in the real sense of it, are the lawful owners of the mandate.
Though the APC leadership made spirited effort to remedy the damage by seeking a review of the judgment, but it was to no avail, as the apex court maintained that it could not sit on an appeal in its own judgment. Up till now, there is a seething anger in the state for what many of the APC supporters described as travesty of justice. But then, that’s the law. According to legal experts, the governor-elect and his deputy are like Siamese twins, sharing the same umbilical cord. Whatever happens to one automatically affects the others. That’s the luck Governor Douye Diri is enjoying now, sitting pretty comfortably well on the seat of power in Bayelsa State.
In the mean time, Lyon, a strong man by all standards, has taken the fate providence threw upon him in his own stride, appealing for calm in the state. A press statement he personally signed and issued on Friday reads in part: “The decision has further dashed the hopes of Bayelsans as it upturns the democratic mandate of the Bayelsa electorate. No matter how distressing the judgment could be, we are all bound to accept the outcome as law-abiding citizens of this great country. God still loves Bayelsans and will still allow His will to come to pass in their lives.” He thanked the party leadership from the national to the ward level “for upholding the ideals of constitutional democracy.”
These words for now remain a soothing balm for the angry people of Bayelsa State, whose lawful mandate has been wished away and their aspiration for a new dawn turned to a drain pipe.
David Lyon, a 49-year-old astute businessman, was born into the family of Mr and Mrs Arukubu Lyon Ekpeke of Abebiri family of Eubiri, Olugbobiri Community in Olodiama clan of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, on December 20, 1970. He was considered a black horse by many political observers when he joined the race for the governorship contest. But with shrewd political maneuvering and grassroots mobilization, he eventually clinched the ticket of the party and ultimately won the election. Prior to his foray into politics, he had established a strong business network in the complex oil and gas industry, where he rendered diverse services to oil and gas multinational companies. He kissed the coveted seat bye on February 13, barely 24 hour to his swearing-in as governor. For now, he could be described as a governor that never be! But then, he remains emotionally stable with the right comportment.