LIVE: Tension In Bayelsa As Dickson, Sylva Go Head To Head

Residents of Bayelsa state today Saturday December 5, 2015, head to the polls to elect a leader to steer the affairs of the state for the next four years.

Although there are other political parties involved in the polls, all eyes will be on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and their major opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

While incumbent governor Seriake Dickson PDP looks more like a favourite, especially with the huge support and followership accorded him because of former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, the APC candidate, Timipre Sylva will ride on his luck as a candidate with the ‘federal might’.

The tension in the state is already sky high, not because it is an election day, but because of controversial events that have taken place in the state in recent weeks.

There were reports that the PDP’s chances of coming out tops were dealt a massive blow when some of its members under the present administration of Dickson, openly declared support for the opposition during their (APC’s) last campaign preceding the election.

And although it may have depleted the party’s chances further, the presence and the influence of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan is also one factor that may yet determine where the pendulum will swing at the end of the day when the election results would be announced.

Observers, both foreign and local will now keep a keen eye on the state, not because an APC chieftain was shot dead recently, or because a aspirant under the opposition ‘wanted in’ at the PDP divide of the state, but because of the ugly incidents that trailed the recently-held polls in Kogi state, where Prince Abubakar Audu, the governorship candidate of the APC died after the election had been declared inconclusive.

Some were of the opinion that the late former governor must have been poisoned by some tops guns in the party who did not want him to rule again, but this was a mere speculation, as no autopsy confirmed the authenticity of the allegations.

This further makes the Bayelsa election a talking point with Kogi as a reference point.

Balooggsblog.com will bring you live updates from the oil-rich state.

7.20am: Security agents have manned different parts of the state as the electorates have also started leaving their houses for the polling units.