Bayelsa Assembly Race: Multiple Term Seekers Face Tight Rope
3 min read
John ODHE, Yenagoa
The race to the different constituency seats in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in the 2023 general elections promises not to be a bed of roses.
Our checks revealed that this time, the electorate have taken a firm stand in making their choices, not minding which political party a candidate belongs.
The electorate are said to be banking on the new Electoral Act which has legalized electronic transmission of election results immediately after voting is completed at the polling unit level.
With the expectation that votes would count this time around, voters have become the beautiful bride that they ought to be during elections and they are not taking it for granted.
TNN gathered that old members of the Bayelsa State legislature especially those pursuing third and fourth terms respectively stand the risk of being voted out due to what the electorate describe as lack of effective representations over the years.
One of the old legislators seeking a re-election is the current speaker of the House, Mr. Abraham Ngobere who represents Brass Constituency 3 in the state Assembly. He is seeking a fourth term mandate.
While some of his constituents are of the view that the speaker should return to the hallowed chamber to continue his law making business, having gathered a lot of experience in the job, others are having a contrary view.
Prior to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary elections, some groups from his constituency had protested against Ngobere’s return ticket, claiming that he had performed below their expectations during the about 12 years he had already spent in the House.
The protesting constituents had also cited equitable distribution of power within the constituency as another reason they wanted another person from another part of the constituency to represent them in the next legislative dispensation beginning from 2023.
Their protests, notwithstanding, the PDP handed a return ticket to the speaker to contest for the fourth time, leaving Ngobere to go to the polls and test his popularity amongst other candidates from other political parties come 2023.
It is the same fate that befalls the member representing Southern Ijaw constituency 2 and former speaker of the state legislature, Mr. Monday Obolo, who is embarking on a fourth term mission.
Obolo, a PDP member, who now serves as the majority leader of the house, is equally facing stiff opposition from his constituents, especially in the areas that had not produced the house of assembly representative since the inception of democracy in 1999.
The constituents are of the agitation that power should rotate to other parts of the constituency for the sake of equity and fairness. The electorates are set to make their final decision at the polls on Election Day.
Also facing a similar fate is the member representing Yenagoa constituency 2 in the state Assembly, Mrs. Koku-Obiyai Ebiuwou.
Ebiuwou of the PDP is the current chief whip of the house and is going for a third consecutive term which is said not to be going down well with many of her constituents who believe that she has overstayed in the house and should give the opportunity to others to produce the representative.
Our checks revealed that the election into the Yenagoa constituency 2 will be one of the toughest amongst all the constituencies as the situation has provided a competitive ground for the candidates of other parties to shine at the polls.
Also to be keenly contested will be the Ogbia constituency 3 seat, where Mr. Monalayefa Gibson of the PDP is fighting for a third consecutive term.
Many of his constituents had complained before the primaries that the lawmaker had not been as vibrant as expected and should therefore be replaced and an opportunity be given to other parts of the constituency to produce a lawmaker.
