Bayelsa’ll conduct local govt election this year- Diri

Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri

The Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, has said that his administration will conduct local government election this year.

Disclosing this in a chat with journalists, he said the state government was actually waiting for the 2023 general elections to be concluded before commencing the process for the council polls.

The reports that the tenure of the last elected local government chairmen and councillors expired on August 14, 2022 and the councils had been operating without elected council bosses since then.

In the past few months, the governor had come under intense criticism by the opposition and concerned stakeholders over the inability of his administration to conduct council poll.

Diri said he was hopeful that the exercise would be held this year, with the national elections rounded off.

He said, “We will do that (conduct local government election) hopefully this year. We want the national elections, at least, to come and go and then we will set up the procedures for the local government election.

“So, hopefully, we will have our local government election this year.”

The last council election was conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commission during the second tenure of Diri’s predecessor, Seriake Dickson, in August 2019.

The ruling PDP won all the eight local government councils and the 105 wards in the state as the APC and other opposition parties boycotted the council election, saying they had no confidence in the BYSIEC to conduct credible poll.