Ogege Kemelayefa, the candidate of the Motion Peoples Celebration (APP) within the 11 November governorship election in Bayelsa State, mentioned she is happy with the 14 votes she scored within the election.
The entire variety of votes solid within the election was 300,072.
Ms Kemelayefa, a 35-year-old entrepreneur, was among the many 16 candidates within the election.
The Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC) had declared the incumbent Governor Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Celebration (PDP), who polled 175,196 votes, because the winner of the election.
Mr Diri’s closest challenger, Timipre Sylva, of the All Progressives Congress, got here second with 110,108 votes whereas the Labour Celebration candidate, Eradiri Udengmobofa scored 905 votes to safe a 3rd place.
The APP candidate, Ms Kemelayefa, who sits second on the backside of the INEC desk, spoke with PREMIUM TIMES final week about how she felt in regards to the simply concluded election.
“I’m not happy with the outcomes. There have been excessive charges of vote shopping for, rigging, and outcomes manipulation. There have been so many issues fallacious with the method however for my 14 votes, I’m very happy with them.
“ why? I by no means paid a dime for these votes, I didn’t give anyone a dime to vote for me. These 14 individuals belief my imaginative and prescient for Bayelsa State.
“And speaking about disappointment, sure I’m very dissatisfied on the ruling social gathering for impoverishing the individuals to the extent that every one the individuals should do is survive. So that they took that monies on the polling items as a result of they should survive. I’m dissatisfied on the ruling social gathering that they don’t have the most effective curiosity of the individuals at coronary heart and that for 4 years there was no improvement, energy provide, industries, good street community given to the individuals,” she instructed PREMIUM TIMES.
Ms Kemelayefa, two days after the election, made a Fb video the place she claimed she noticed voters promoting their votes for N70,000.
“I weep for Bayelsa State,” she mentioned within the publish.
The PDP spokesperson within the state, Ebiye Ogoli, declined to reply to a request for touch upon the allegations of vote-buying towards his social gathering when contacted.
Ms Kemelayefa mentioned she did her greatest in the course of the election to enlighten the voters that “they’re the kingmakers”, and as such “we don’t want the king to return and provides us cash to put in them”.
‘Two industries per space’
Regardless of its enormous oil and gasoline income, Bayelsa State stays one of the underdeveloped states in Nigeria, one thing Ms Kemelayefa mentioned she aimed to vary.
Chatting with this newspaper on her manifesto, the APP candidate mentioned her social contract with the individuals of the state was encapsulated in an eight-point agenda together with decentralisation of improvement, infrastructure renaissance and constructing of a minimum of two industries in every of the eight native authorities areas of the state.
She mentioned she had many “presents and temptations” to step down for the ruling social gathering however rejected them.
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